Resting in Our Salvation

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

| Resting in Our Weakness series |

• Yoked with Jesus
• The Work and the Worry
• Resting in Our Salvation

---

In our last post I promised to share something God showed me that helped me see the gift of salvation in a whole new light as we finish this series on Resting in Our Weakness. It comes from the end of our passage in Matthew 11; in verse 30, Jesus says “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” At first glance, I have to admit that I didn’t really see much difference between those two statements. But in writing this series, I finally saw what He meant and how He saved us from what each of these statements represents.

The Good Yoke

Let’s start with the first statement, “My yoke is easy”.  The word ‘easy’ in this verse comes from the root ‘chrestos’.  This word is a blend of “being kind and good at the same time”. This is the only time this word is translated as ‘easy’ in the Bible and, simply put, it is better translated here as “my yoke is good [and kind]”.

A yoke is a harness that you place on a pair of animals so that they can pull together as one. To be yoked with Jesus means that we are submissive to His will to the point that we move in unison with Him, we do what we see Him doing (see the first post in this series). At one time, we were yoked to our sinful desires (see our post Set Free). Being free to do what we want, was not freedom at all because what we want is not what’s good for us.  “Instead of what we want, we put what He wants as our yoke (our guide) … because what He wants is what’s good for us.”

It’s so easy to think that a little sin won’t hurt; we just need to relieve some stress. But James tells us plainly what that little sin will do to us: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15) What sinful desire tells us to do will wreak havoc on our soul; sin’s yoke is bad for us. He goes on to say, “Do not be deceived, … every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:16-17).  What God tells us to do is what’s good for us. Jesus’ yoke is good!  When we trust that His commands are what’s good for us, only then are we able to let go of sin’s yoke and receive His yoke in exchange.

The Light Burden

What is Jesus referring to when He says “My burden is light”? By contrast, when speaking of the Pharisees he said, “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4). The Pharisees were teachers of the law, and these heavy burdens were works of the law. So, what are the works that Jesus asks us to do?  In John 6, Jesus was asked this question; in response, He doesn’t list many works but gives one work that we must do, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:29) Rather than the many difficult and demanding works required by the law (the heavy burden), the work that Jesus calls us to is faith (the light burden).

Finding confidence in our righteousness because of works sneaks up on all of us. Paul admonished the Galatians for falling into this trap, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? … Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? … Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? … All who rely on works of the law are under a curse … Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.” (Galatians 3:1-14) This trap is just as deceitful, just as prevalent, and just as deadly as the trap of sin. Perhaps even more deceitful because outwardly we are doing the right things and inwardly it’s hard to notice how we subtly feel justified by works. As we discussed in the first post of this series, meekness enabled us to receive His yoke. Similarly, the second virtue (from the last post) of humility guards us against abandoning His light burden of faith in exchange for the heavy burden of being justified by works.

Resting in His Strength

So, on the one side, we have the warning of James about allowing sin, “What good is it … if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)  On the other side, we have the warning of Galatians about relying on works, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:4) I can see now why the Bible describes the Christian walk as narrow and hard (Matthew 7:14). 

In walking such a narrow path, it’s hard to imagine how we can rest, but that is exactly what Jesus promised us in our verse from Matthew.  How is that possible? We walk this path by His strength, and it’s in His strength that we rest. We must receive His strength by accepting our weakness and trusting in Him. He saved us from being held captive by our sinful desires, offering His good yoke instead (His commands).  He saved us from being oppressed by doing works to receive salvation, offering His light burden instead (faith). Just as He said when He summarized the Good News in Luke 4:18, He has “proclaim[ed] liberty to the captives” (to sin) and He has “set at liberty those who are oppressed” (by the law).

In regard to works, He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  In regard to sin, He says, “Take my yoke upon you … and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Let’s do exactly that. In meekness, let’s submit to His direction, doing what He says is good for us and refusing what He says isn’t.  In humility, let’s rely on His power, having faith in Him to save us without taking any confidence in what we’ve done.  In everything, let’s be grateful that we can rest in His strength to save us.