Vision Isn't the Fuel?

VISION ISN’T FUEL??

“Vision isn't fuel." People need vision, but they also need a clear plan to participate in the vision. Most importantly, they need fuel to keep them encouraged and filled with strength to continue on the path to fulfill the vision.

What’s great about Christianity is that Jesus provides all three of these for Christians because he occupies three offices as our Savior. He is our Prophet, King, and Priest. As prophet, he casts a grand vision for the restoration and renewal of the entire heaven and earth. As king, he outlines the plan for accomplishing this restoration through the ministry of the church that will be consummated in his glorious return. As priest, he continually fills his people with grace by leading them through the process of repentance and faith.

This is wonderful, consistent with Scripture, and simple to understand and remember. But as I think about this, there is something that doesn’t quite connect...

Then it hit me. Years ago when I was teaching through the book of Ephesians, I realized something about the commands in Scripture. Here's a quote from a study on Ephesians 5:1-14:

"We have looked at this list of commands today, and I hope this hasn’t been discouraging for you. It’s vital to understand that Paul has two purposes in giving these imperatives (commands). First, they beseech you to walk worthy of your calling as a follower of Jesus. Second, in the commands themselves, Paul is showing us the power and reality of gospel transformation.

"If salvation did nothing but forgive sins, then it would be impossible for believers to obey God and His commands. But salvation does more than forgive sins. These imperatives are not the condemning law, they are a reflection of the gospel. In them Paul is describing the new self. They are snapshots of who God has made you to be in Christ. Don’t read these imperatives and get depressed because you are not measuring up to them and you can never obey them. This is not Paul’s intention! Paul wants you to know that this is what God has made you to be! You do not do the things that Paul prohibits because you are united to Christ! You are no longer the old self anymore. You are the new self because you are connected to Jesus.

"See these imperatives as revealing who you are when you walk by faith. Be encouraged by these imperatives! Be encouraged that this is your true identity in Christ, and live out your union with Him. If you believe that you are in Christ and that He is in you, then you must also believe that you are the new self. This means that you can obey these imperatives by the power of God's Spirit operating within you."

This study was from 8 years ago. Since that time, my whole perspective on the commands in Scripture has been revolutionized. Because the imperatives in Scripture are all based on the indicatives (the statements of fact about who we have become because we are connected to Jesus), we can have every assurance and confidence that if we are commanded to do or be something, then we have been transformed to be the kind of people who are or do whatever it is.

When I first came to grips with this, I took great joy in repeating the following process over and over again:

1. See a command to do or be something in Scripture.
2. Remind myself that apart from Jesus, I could not do or be this faithfully.
3. Remind myself that I am united to Jesus, whose ability to do or be this was and is perfect, and whose ability has been given to me.
4. Remind myself that I have been transformed into the kind of person who wants to, can, and does this with joy.

As I have walked in this truth over the years, I have reduced this into a shorter process where I simply believe now that the commandments in Scripture are possible for me to fulfill (not perfectly, but acceptably) because Jesus kept them perfectly and he is in me. So the commandments themselves have become a new way for me to be reminded of my union with Jesus. The commandments themselves now fill me afresh with strength and confidence and power that I can be what God wants me to be.

Conclusion: By understanding the commands in Scripture in this way, Jesus’ vision (revealed in the commands of Scripture) actually is a source of fuel, since the commands reveal who we are made to be with Jesus in us.