Guest Post by Dane Ortlund
In reading through some letters of Francis Schaeffer, two things struck me repeatedly throughout.
One is Schaeffer’s emphasis on the (past) finished work of Christ as a (present) resource for Christian living. That’s for another post perhaps.
The other is Schaeffer’s recurrent articulation of the goal of Christian living. Schaeffer says time and again that the goal of the Christian life is to reflect God’s holiness and love together. Simultaneously. They are to be overlaid, not in competition with one another. And only the gospel, he insists, can do this.
Here the crucial statement, from an undated letter.
Increasingly I believe that after we are saved we have only one calling, and that is to show forth the existence and the character of God. Since God is love and God is holy, it is our calling to act in such a way as to demonstrate the existence of God–in other words to be and to act in such a way as to show forth His love and His holiness simultaneously. Further, I believe that the failure to show forth either of these is equally a perversion.
Of course, in one’s own strength it is only possible to show forth either love or holiness. But to show forth the holiness and love of God simultaneously requires much more. It requires a moment by moment work of the Holy Spirit in a very practical way. (71; also 59, 67, 126)
This is an instructive framework that gets at the heart of Christian living. In the flesh, we can exhibit God’s flaring vehemence against sin. Or, in the flesh, we can exhibit God’s benevolent overlooking of sin. Hardness, softness. Lion-like, lamb-like. Holiness, love. Only in the Spirit can we do both together.
The way we get there is by communing with the One who said “You must perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” and “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
