Where's the life?

OK, I stole that from the Wendy's™ ad from way back when: "Where's the beef?" But, it is a valid question for most Christians. In case you don't remember, I'm excerpting from The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out.

Unfortunately, knowing that I was saved and that my sins were forgiven was the only inner reality I knew. Like most Christians, I was trying to live the Christian life on that raw reality.

The trouble is that, as true as it is, having your sins forgiven doesn't tell you one thing about how to live the life. The only thing it says is after you commit a sin, you are forgiven. You don't know anything yet about true life—God's life. So life to you is still external: "How do I do it? Give me a plan, give me a method, give me a scheme."

It's as if the day we receive Him by faith, Jesus says, "Now you're saved. Good luck. I'll see you when you die and it will be wonderful. But in the here and now it's up to you. Get out there and try as hard as you can." What a struggle. I tried as hard as I could for years... The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out, page 18

<idle musing>
Sound familiar? He hasn't offered the solution yet, but he sure has pegged the problem, hasn't he? Work, work, work! Saved by grace, but sanctified by works. What an endless treadmill. It's sort of like the one at the end of the Jetsons™, where George and Astro are taking a walk. Works fine, until a cat (real life in the analogy) jumps on the path. From there on, it's a nightmare...
</idle musing>