Jesus is Not Training Wheels
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Galatians 3:1-6
Little Billy was ready. After a whole year of practicing in the driveway, riding around the neighborhood, he was ready to ride his bike without training wheels. His dad unbolted the wheels from his bike, and off little Billy went, down the road, leaving Dad in his dust.
His first ride was going smoothly. He passed Mrs. Patterson’s house. He rode up to Big Bertha, the hill at the end of the street.
Big Bertha was aptly named. Not only was she tall. She was steep. She already had the skinned knees of many boys and girls on her record. But little Billy pumped his legs as hard as he could. He made it all the way to the top.
There was just one problem. To get home, little Billy had to descend Big Bertha. He remembered what his dad said, “If you don’t think you can do it, just get off your bike and walk.”
But little Billy knew he could do it. He turned his bike around and point the wheel down Big Bertha. He took his feet off the ground. He didn’t even need to pedal. Gravity was doing all the work. Whee!
Then, the handlebars began to wobble. Little Billy tried to correct, but now the bike was swaying side to side, from one curb to the other. The bike moved faster and faster. He was heading straight for a tree. CRASH!
The bike was mangled. Little Billy’s arm broken. Good thing he was wearing his helmet.
Little Billy got a little too big for his britches. He was overconfident. He thought he was more advanced than he was.
The Galatians had the same problem.
Paul asked them, “After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” The basic gist was that though they’d been made alive in Christ, they didn’t really need Christ as much now as they needed to complete their salvation by living a good life.
We do the same.
It’s all too easy to start to put Jesus in the background. To start to think of yourself as some kind of super-Christian who, yeah, still needs forgiveness, but really just needs to be pointed in the right direction. Who already knows about salvation, so why can’t we talk about how we can live better, more fulfilling lives?
Do you see the problem?
Tempted by the devil, we disconnect our Christian lives from Christ. Reading the Bible becomes an exercise in self-help instead of a love letter from God. Faith grounds itself more in my own works and life situation instead of the work and life and death of Jesus. If salvation moves to the background, my own life to the fore, then I run the risk of losing my home in heaven. I grow too big for my britches and when life goes downhill, I’ll crash and burn.
We never stop needing Jesus. Specifically, we never stop needing Jesus’ sacrificial work on our behalf. Jesus is not training wheels, just equipping us to someday head out on our own. Jesus is fount of salvation from sin, the cleansing robe of righteousness, finally, yes, the motivation to live a God-pleasing, not me-pleasing, life, not to earn my place, but because he has given me my place.
Ride with Jesus your whole life through. Return to him for the rest and restoration you need in a world that skins your knee, breaks your arm, or worse. Live in his grace and mercy. You still need him.