Alien Righteousness

When I am tempted to get self-righteous, God has a great way of keeping me in check. While I tend not to be a proud person with regard to my rugged good looks (gulp) or my stark, raving mad intelligence (double gulp with whipped cream and maraschinos on top), I tend towards pride in my spiritual life. The Bible proclaims throughout Proverbs and sprinkled through Psalms and much of the New Testament just how much God hates/ is opposed to Pride. Today, from a hotel in Branson escaping the ice storm, I explain how He does it in my life. He lets me choose.
Before I get into the bashing of self, I need to explain a concept I learned from one of the most brilliant men of our time...John MacArthur. He, when asked if he thought of himself as a good person, said that he has an “alien righteousness”. Before you have images of ET sitting in a tie died shirt smoking a hash pipe, visualize this truth. Once we are a Christian, we have the Holy Spirit in us. What are the ramifications of this? Huge! Indescribable! God resides with us. What does this mean? There are many ramifications, but I will discuss one of the lesser ones here. In my humbled opinion, it means that every good thought, every good deed with the right motive, and anything else that comes from Mark Applegate is a direct result of God successfully being evident in my life in spite of the real Mark Applegate clouding things up. Don't mistake me for saying that I am God. I am an evil, Mark-worshiper at heart that has been made righteous (in right standing/ eternally justified by God) from the inside out. When I come to God's judgment when I die, all God will see is the alien righteousness of Christ living in me and paying for my sin. I will appear completely Holy, not because of me but in spite of me and because of His Son's goodness. He will not see the fiasco I made of much of my life. When we understand how much Jesus gave up to die for us, despite the fact that we lived in a way that shows our hatred and contempt for Him, how can we keep from worshiping such a great God?
How does this relate to my pride? God lets me make selfish decisions, then makes me aware of it later. When the ice came, I tucked tail and ran. We headed to Branson to swim at an indoor swim park. While this isn't sinful on the surface and is arguably quite smart as my house sits cold and dark, there is more information. Without giving it a second thought, I failed to serve my church family or my community during this hard time. I suppressed the alien righteousness in me and didn't even notice. My pastor is serving the community and his flock while I, a supposed leader in my church, swim. I have a long way to go. I would like to personally apologize to my readers, my church family, and the people of Stockton for being being a hypocrite in the service realm. Please don't hold God accountable for the lack of service, or for anything else people do because of stupid choices.
Another way this experience has made me see myself in a different way is the Bible. Without web access at the hotel and my trusted concordance/study software, I quickly realized how little of the Bible I have memorized. I am going to make it my goal to memorize a verse a week next year. It is so easy to be spiritually undisciplined when you have all your books and programs at your disposal. Take them away and you see really quick how good you are at finding verses in your Bible. I have work to do!
To conclude, as you consider Christianity, please be aware that it is a process. You get “born again” (see John 3), then life is a process of sanctification (big word for showing more of God and less of self). We make good decisions and bad ones but God still loves us. Don't become a Christian to be more like Christians, do it to have Heaven as your eternal destination. The consequences are too big to try to blame hypocrites like me for why you didn't accept Christ when you stand before Him when you die. Thank you, friends, for your patience with me! I, like all Christians,am a work in progress!
Weight accountability update...I am currently at 320.8. I lost 5.4 this week for a total monthly loss of 15.2. Only 144.8 to go! God is good, and patient, all the time!