Relationship focus

“The immediate goal of an illuminated faith is not works or spiritual achievement. Instead, it is fellowship with God, leading to fellowship with other believers. (As P. T. Forsyth says,) ‘The error at the root of all false ideas of perfection is this: it is rating our behavior before God higher than our relation to God—putting conduct before faith, deeds before trust, work before worship . . . We are not saved by the love we exercise, but by the love we trust . . . Christian perfection is the perfection not of conduct, character, or creed, but of faith. It is not a matter of our behavior before God the Judge, but of our relation to God the Savior.’ This fellowship, of course, will lead to works, to thoughts and words and acts on behalf of the kingdom of God. But these works will emerge primarily out of our fellowship with Christ. And we will be clearly aware that in the deepest sense they are his works and not ours—the works of the risen Christ.” (Richard F. Lovelace, Renewal As a Way of Life, p. 135)