Question 1

In what ways can independence be good?

Accepted Answer

John 8:32, 34-36“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” . . . Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”Romans 6:20-23When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.Galatians 5:1Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.Those who have trusted in Christ as Savior are no longer dependent on the desires and urges of the sinful nature. They are independent and free, free to do what is right.1 Corinthians 3:8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.1 Corinthians 12:20, 27There are many parts, but only one body. . . . All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.Ephesians 4:15-16Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.If we are completely independent, we don’t require the help of others. Each individual independently develops a loving or unloving relationship with God and other people. Each person must independently obey God and be accountable to him. And every person must responsibly and lovingly perform the tasks God has given to him or her as part of his body. We may do all of these things in concert with others, but each person is responsible for his or her decisions and actions. Every team is a group of individuals, independent, yet privileged to work together. We are called to take individual responsibility for our actions but also to function beautifully together as a unified team.

Question 2

What are the dangers of independence?

Accepted Answer

John 15:1-6“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”The greatest danger of independence is thinking that we don’t need God.Isaiah 47:8, 10“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’ . . . “You felt secure in your wickedness. ‘No one sees me,’ you said. But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray, and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’”Asserting our independence can cause us to turn from God and depend only on our personal resources.Numbers 15:30-31“Those who brazenly violate the Lord’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community. Since they have treated the Lord’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt.”Jeremiah 11:7-8“‘I [the Lord] solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, “Obey me!” I have repeated this warning over and over to this day, but your ancestors did not listen or even pay attention. Instead, they stubbornly followed their own evil desires. And because they refused to obey, I brought upon them all the curses described in this covenant.’”Independence can be a sin of defiance. While God made us to be individuals, he created us to live in harmony with him, our Creator. When we insist on exercising our independence to avoid doing what the Lord wants, we are rebelling against him and refusing to follow his plan for our lives.1 Corinthians 4:7What gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?3 John 1:9-10I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.Independence can often be accompanied by arrogance. No matter how independently we function, we need God to save us from sin and make us our very best. To think we don’t need him is foolishness, arrogance, and pride.

Question 3

What did Jesus do to balance dependence and independence?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 26:42Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”John 5:19Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”John 8:28Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me.”John 8:42Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.”John 12:49“I [Jesus] don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.”John 17:11“Now I [Jesus] am departing from the world; they [Jesus’ disciples] are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.”Jesus was and is uniquely the Son of God with a message of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. But he was sent by God and willingly chose to speak and accomplish what his Father had planned. He declared his unity with God in his words and his actions.

Question 4

From what has God declared us independent?

Accepted Answer

Romans 6:14Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.Romans 7:24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?2 Corinthians 3:17The Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.Galatians 5:13You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.Colossians 1:13-14He [God] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.1 Peter 2:16You are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.If we have trusted in Jesus alone to save us, we are set free from the power of sin. This freedom is dependent, of course, on God’s grace. We are free to serve God and one another in love. But our lives are at their best when we, in our independence, depend on our Creator for his power and blessings.Acts 10:28Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.”Acts 11:8-9“‘No, Lord,’ I [the apostle Peter] replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’ But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’”Romans 7:4-6You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.We are independent of the laws of Moses and dependent on the Spirit to guide us and provide us with wisdom, strength, counsel, and guidance.

Question 5

How can I balance my independence with a proper dependence on God?

Accepted Answer

1 Corinthians 3:8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.1 Corinthians 4:7What gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?1 Corinthians 12:20, 27There are many parts, but only one body. . . . All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.Every person is unique and special in the eyes of God. And each individual must make an independent, personal choice to either follow God or reject him. Individually, we develop loving or unloving relationships with God. We decide to obey and follow him or not. If we decide to follow him, we become part of his family. As a part of God’s family of believers, we still carry out our unique responsibilities, but we do so in concert with other members of God’s family. Every group, every team, every family consists of individuals who are privileged to work together. Without relationship, we can easily become focused on ourselves, which can tempt us to think we don’t need God. Independence, if left unchecked, can lead to proud defiance and a failure to depend on God. Balance is best achieved by celebrating God’s unique purposes for us, carrying them out responsibly together with others, and depending on God fully for the guidance and strength to do so.