Evangelical Assumptions About the Christian Life

Many of us have slipped into an Evangelical assumption about the Christian life that does not align with Scripture. We live a Christian existence that is far from the biblical reality. We have begun to see the spiritual life as not much more than attending church to listen to sermons—some good, some bad, doing our devotions, and then focusing on earthly things the remainder of the time. As an Evangelical, I realize this is not what historic Evangelicalism teaches, but it is how we often live our lives. No wonder so many are bored.

Peter calls us to much more than this malaise in his second epistle. He tells us that “God’s divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Yet we seem to have little life and little godliness, yet all of this is available through the knowledge of God. If we think a sermon a week and ten-minute daily devotions is sufficient to know such an awe-inspiring God, we have barely scratched the surface. Nor do we realize that he should encompass everything about us.

“He has granted to us his precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:4a). These promises include all things pertaining to justification and sanctification, but we often neglect the latter. Through these promises, “You may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4b). To be clear, this does not mean we become little gods. It means something less heretical and better for us. Peter is telling us the only true living God has taken up residence in us through the Holy Spirit. He is also telling us we can grow in holiness like our Father in heaven.

This news is glorious because we have “escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4c). Or have we? If you have faith, you have a new birth that has overcome the spiritual death that once held us captive, but far too often in Evangelicalism, we allow the world to lure us back, and our old human passions begin to have their way with us again.

We might not run into blatant sin, but we sure allow our apathy and sluggishness to sit us in front of Netflix for long hours rather than spending time with our Savior. We might spend hours arguing against social pathologies on social media, but ten minutes of prayer feels like a chore. We are neither self-controlled nor sober-minded, and because of this, we have no prayer life (1 Peter 4:6).

Never forget that his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We need to recall the great and precious promises of abundant life he offers and remember that we do not need to be held captive to this world and our sinful desires. In light of these truths, we need to “make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Peter 1:5-6).

The Christian life is not merely about attending church, listening to sermons, doing our daily devotion, and then settling into a humdrum existence. God has given us these means of grace to grow in our union with Christ and add to our faith. If streaming television is the highlight of our day, it is a sure sign we are off track.

Have you been pursuing a holy life? “If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:8). 

Do not forget what he has called you to. Our time is limited. “Live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2).  If we are bored with the Christian life, I would suggest it is not Christianity leaving us unfulfilled. We likely have one foot in the world and one in the faith, and it is the world that is leaving us uninspired.

If we have bought into this Evangelical cultural assumption about the Christian life, I pray that the Holy Spirit will use this short writing to shake us free. We need to lean less on our own religious understanding. Instead, we should align our assumptions of the Christian life with the expectations of Scripture. If we do that, our lives will never be the same.

-D. Eaton