"If we have regarded religion merely as a means of getting things - even lofty and unselfish things - then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, our faith will fail. When loved ones are taken away, when disappointment comes and failure, when noble ambitions are set at naught, then we turn away from God. We have tried religion, and it has failed. Of course it has failed! God is not content to be an instrument in our hand or a servant at our beck and call.
Has it never dawned on us that God is valuable for His own sake, that just as personal communion is the highest thing that we know on earth, so personal communion with God is the sublimest height of all? If we value God for His own sake, then the loss of other things will draw us all the closer to Him; we shall then have recourse to Him in time of trouble as to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. If here and now we have the one inestimable gift of God's presence and favour, then all the rest can wait till God's good time."
-J. Gresham Machen, What is Faith?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Joy-Based Repentance
I love this quote from Tim Keller's new book, Counterfeit Gods:
“In fear-based repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over God’s sacrificial, suffering love for us – seeing what it cost him to save us from sin – we learn to hate the sin for what it is. We see what the sin cost God. What most assures us of God’s unconditional love (Jesus’s costly death) is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.”
- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 172.
“In fear-based repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over God’s sacrificial, suffering love for us – seeing what it cost him to save us from sin – we learn to hate the sin for what it is. We see what the sin cost God. What most assures us of God’s unconditional love (Jesus’s costly death) is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.”
- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 172.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Idols of the Heart
How is it that Paul boasts in his weaknesses? This is not the normal way of things in the world. We boast in power! In greatness! In success and achievement! The way of our hearts is to tell others of what we have done. Have you ever had a conversation where your friend is telling you of something that they had succeeded in, only to find yourself also telling of how well you had done in a similar success? How quickly we like to steal their glory and build our own reputations of power, success, wealth, and strength. In this boasting, you will notice, is no room for Jesus. There is no place for God’s gracious work in the Christ. It is performance-based religion again that has snuck its way into our hearts and out of our mouths. In fact, every worldview apart from Jesus has a system of which to boast of success and accomplishments. What is it about Jesus that calls Christians to radically boast of our inabilities?
My friends, it is the gospel of grace that calls us to weakness. Jesus won our salvation through losing his reputation and life on the cross, he achieved power through weakness and brokenness, he gained glory by giving it away. This is the way of the Kingdom of Jesus: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It is the ones who know that they are broken, messed up, hopeless in their own power that find salvation in Jesus Christ. This does not change after our conversion, but is amplified and swells into a Holy Spirit empowerment of humble praise to Jesus.
Humility and brokenness, powerlessness and weakness, are the ways of the Christian, so that Jesus might be proclaimed as the all in all. Let us not pretend that we no longer struggle with sin, that sin is deep within our hearts to this day. The flesh remains to do battle with the Holy Spirit and the apostle John says in his first letter that “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So, why don’t most of us boast in our weakness? Why do we find ourselves building our own reputations and seeking our own glory through demanding power, respect, and service from others? Why do we get angry when someone points out our weaknesses? Why do we fret in depression and anxiety when we see our weakness? We do these things because we are not, at that moment, seeing Jesus and His gospel, His complete substitution for us. Instead, we find ourselves again setting up idols within our hearts, things in which we seek to find fulfillment, significance, and salvation through our performance.
The root of every sin on the surface is idolatry in the heart. We think that we need something in addition to Jesus to give us satisfaction or acceptance, and we depend on them to deliver it. This is simply idolatry.
These idols rule our thoughts and our emotions, and lead us to outwardly sin. We must go to the root of the sin in order to deal with it. So, let’s look a little closer at the idolatry of our hearts, so that we can apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts and see the freedom of weakness that the grace of God can bring in Jesus Christ as we turn to him in repentance of our idols and in the joy of our freedom.
Take a few moments of silence to search your heart and identify any idols that may be present. This will be a lifelong struggle, so please don’t see this as a one-time thing. We are more weak than we know and we will find that we have set up idols again and they must be torn down again for the sake of the gospel. But, right now think of your own heart: Where do I find myself anxious and fearful time and time again? What am I thinking that I must have to be happy, significant, fulfilled, to have meaning in my life? Where do I find myself getting angry a lot? What am I believing that I must have that somebody is keeping me from? What is that thing I am blocked from that I feel will give me meaning? Now, let’s apply the gospel.
Jesus says: “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness.”
To the Glory of God Alone
My friends, it is the gospel of grace that calls us to weakness. Jesus won our salvation through losing his reputation and life on the cross, he achieved power through weakness and brokenness, he gained glory by giving it away. This is the way of the Kingdom of Jesus: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It is the ones who know that they are broken, messed up, hopeless in their own power that find salvation in Jesus Christ. This does not change after our conversion, but is amplified and swells into a Holy Spirit empowerment of humble praise to Jesus.
Humility and brokenness, powerlessness and weakness, are the ways of the Christian, so that Jesus might be proclaimed as the all in all. Let us not pretend that we no longer struggle with sin, that sin is deep within our hearts to this day. The flesh remains to do battle with the Holy Spirit and the apostle John says in his first letter that “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So, why don’t most of us boast in our weakness? Why do we find ourselves building our own reputations and seeking our own glory through demanding power, respect, and service from others? Why do we get angry when someone points out our weaknesses? Why do we fret in depression and anxiety when we see our weakness? We do these things because we are not, at that moment, seeing Jesus and His gospel, His complete substitution for us. Instead, we find ourselves again setting up idols within our hearts, things in which we seek to find fulfillment, significance, and salvation through our performance.
The root of every sin on the surface is idolatry in the heart. We think that we need something in addition to Jesus to give us satisfaction or acceptance, and we depend on them to deliver it. This is simply idolatry.
These idols rule our thoughts and our emotions, and lead us to outwardly sin. We must go to the root of the sin in order to deal with it. So, let’s look a little closer at the idolatry of our hearts, so that we can apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts and see the freedom of weakness that the grace of God can bring in Jesus Christ as we turn to him in repentance of our idols and in the joy of our freedom.
Take a few moments of silence to search your heart and identify any idols that may be present. This will be a lifelong struggle, so please don’t see this as a one-time thing. We are more weak than we know and we will find that we have set up idols again and they must be torn down again for the sake of the gospel. But, right now think of your own heart: Where do I find myself anxious and fearful time and time again? What am I thinking that I must have to be happy, significant, fulfilled, to have meaning in my life? Where do I find myself getting angry a lot? What am I believing that I must have that somebody is keeping me from? What is that thing I am blocked from that I feel will give me meaning? Now, let’s apply the gospel.
Jesus says: “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness.”
To the Glory of God Alone
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Pierced to the Heart
A friend stabbed me yesterday. Pierced my heart...with the hard truth. The brutal truth. In loving strength he laid me bare. I love him for it. It is no kindness to hide the cold reality of sin within a brother's heart. Evidence of self-centeredness and the heart that stacks the stones of "me" upon the stones of "right" built up into a castle of self-righteous anger needs to be revealed for what it is. It is that which separates me from the peace of God and places me under the discipline of self-kindled complacency and joyless tossing of vanity. It is horrible for me when I sin for I am disglorifying God and work and wail outside of the purpose for which I was made. A friend will move me away from the edge of insane idolatry and push me back toward the joy of Jesus...the Savior of sinners.
The Proverb says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." (27:6)
It is the act of an enemy NOT to call to account the sin which is seen in my life. It is the act of a true friend that reveals my sin as sin, not merely a psychologized response to some wound or victimization in my mottled past, but as SIN. I do not fear my sin's revealing, for in repentance and trust in Jesus I find my freedom and my hope. In repentance I find the ability and the strength to love others, to forget myself and reach out for the good of my enemy. It takes a real friend to stab me in the heart with the double-edged sword of God's Word and reveal, in biblical words, that I have sinned. Not merely that I have sinned, but that there is hope for transformation through the Holy Spirit of God applying the blood of Jesus Christ on my behalf. So, I do not fear the blade of truth, nor do I distrust my friend. He is a true friend, a righteous friend who can wound me when I have built my own kingdom and have become so self-myopic that I do not love.
So, keep crying aloud, Isaiah! Do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet, declaring to my people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins. May the clear tone of truth penetrate our hardened hearts and self-deceived minds until all that remains is the glory and praise of the One Righteous. Jesus alone is the righteous man, who did not seize the right of equality that He had with God, but took the form of a servant for me and for you. That is self-forgetfulness. That is love. That is humility, always speaking the truth, but always seeking the good of those around Him, even when it means aiming the blade for the heart.
Soli Dei Gloria
The Proverb says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." (27:6)
It is the act of an enemy NOT to call to account the sin which is seen in my life. It is the act of a true friend that reveals my sin as sin, not merely a psychologized response to some wound or victimization in my mottled past, but as SIN. I do not fear my sin's revealing, for in repentance and trust in Jesus I find my freedom and my hope. In repentance I find the ability and the strength to love others, to forget myself and reach out for the good of my enemy. It takes a real friend to stab me in the heart with the double-edged sword of God's Word and reveal, in biblical words, that I have sinned. Not merely that I have sinned, but that there is hope for transformation through the Holy Spirit of God applying the blood of Jesus Christ on my behalf. So, I do not fear the blade of truth, nor do I distrust my friend. He is a true friend, a righteous friend who can wound me when I have built my own kingdom and have become so self-myopic that I do not love.
So, keep crying aloud, Isaiah! Do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet, declaring to my people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins. May the clear tone of truth penetrate our hardened hearts and self-deceived minds until all that remains is the glory and praise of the One Righteous. Jesus alone is the righteous man, who did not seize the right of equality that He had with God, but took the form of a servant for me and for you. That is self-forgetfulness. That is love. That is humility, always speaking the truth, but always seeking the good of those around Him, even when it means aiming the blade for the heart.
Soli Dei Gloria
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Jesus Wept
Jesus wept. The tears of the eternal God fell to the ground because of His great love for me. The ancient One who walked upon the heavens amidst the fire of the first light bowed low to enter by the peasant’s gate for me. His heart is powerfully gentle and with humble courage he wept over hardened hearts. He bled to redeem me. God bled for me. I feel the humbling tide rolling over my soul. I am not worthy of such extravagance.
The great Father of eternities caught my tears in his bottle, comforting words of promise and of peace. This One, the catcher of my sorrow, so aloof in His splendor and infinity, did become the crier of the tear, humbled low in dullish insignificance. To a stubborn and obstinate people He succumbed to the deep well of saline sadness, to the excessive excruciation of the cross. The Son whose face had never hid from the glory of His eternal Father, laid down his hallowed communion to swallow up holy wrath for me.
Jesus wept. The joy of heaven’s radiant gaze obscured by the unlit darkness of rebels. The veil hanging between the holy and the hard-hearted, the sacred and the sacrilege. God wants it down, so He came down to rend apart the parting, dividing the division by His own flesh. Jesus tore it top to bottom when heaved his final breath. The wrath of God appeased for me in His righteous curse fulfilled in this weeping Son’s sacrifice.
What love is this that raises tears like these? What gracious mercy is it that wells up to such a gift? It is my Lord’s love! It is my Savior’s blood! It is my Jesus who weeps with pity and longs with such passion pursuing my salvation with joyous dread and woeful offering to the Father. It was my sin that brought Him to that wretched glorious tree, but it was His great meritless love that held Him there for me.
Oh for joy to God and man that Jesus wept for me. His tears of pity, warm with love, cleared his vision to Calvary. Up from the grave He lives for joy, leading salvation glowing from the pit of dark despair. Now though guilty I stand not condemned, for Christ my Savior lives.
I will draw near to Christ my God, so warm and gentle the scarred embrace. It was for me He endured the cross, now carrying joy to the Father. My sins, they were scarlet, now white as snow. His cheeks, once wet with tears for me, now stretched wide in welcoming gladness.
The tears that fell from the eyes of my brother; those were my God’s tears for me. The blood that was shed from the body of my King; that was God bleeding for me. What shall I fear in times of duress, when all around me the pillars of life are leaning? My God became man with tears of compassion and gave His life for me. He lives today with conquering power to hold me near forever. I will draw near to Him safely for rest and repose, His tearful love draws me close.
The great Father of eternities caught my tears in his bottle, comforting words of promise and of peace. This One, the catcher of my sorrow, so aloof in His splendor and infinity, did become the crier of the tear, humbled low in dullish insignificance. To a stubborn and obstinate people He succumbed to the deep well of saline sadness, to the excessive excruciation of the cross. The Son whose face had never hid from the glory of His eternal Father, laid down his hallowed communion to swallow up holy wrath for me.
Jesus wept. The joy of heaven’s radiant gaze obscured by the unlit darkness of rebels. The veil hanging between the holy and the hard-hearted, the sacred and the sacrilege. God wants it down, so He came down to rend apart the parting, dividing the division by His own flesh. Jesus tore it top to bottom when heaved his final breath. The wrath of God appeased for me in His righteous curse fulfilled in this weeping Son’s sacrifice.
What love is this that raises tears like these? What gracious mercy is it that wells up to such a gift? It is my Lord’s love! It is my Savior’s blood! It is my Jesus who weeps with pity and longs with such passion pursuing my salvation with joyous dread and woeful offering to the Father. It was my sin that brought Him to that wretched glorious tree, but it was His great meritless love that held Him there for me.
Oh for joy to God and man that Jesus wept for me. His tears of pity, warm with love, cleared his vision to Calvary. Up from the grave He lives for joy, leading salvation glowing from the pit of dark despair. Now though guilty I stand not condemned, for Christ my Savior lives.
I will draw near to Christ my God, so warm and gentle the scarred embrace. It was for me He endured the cross, now carrying joy to the Father. My sins, they were scarlet, now white as snow. His cheeks, once wet with tears for me, now stretched wide in welcoming gladness.
The tears that fell from the eyes of my brother; those were my God’s tears for me. The blood that was shed from the body of my King; that was God bleeding for me. What shall I fear in times of duress, when all around me the pillars of life are leaning? My God became man with tears of compassion and gave His life for me. He lives today with conquering power to hold me near forever. I will draw near to Him safely for rest and repose, His tearful love draws me close.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My First Day of Preschool
Well, today I start my first day of preschool. You see, I don't ever remember actually going to preschool, but this time I am going as an "educational assistant" with my son, Ricky.
Ricky has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum disorder, or for those unfamiliar with such language: he has autism. Through many hours of therapy (~30hrs/wk) organized by his mother and performed by volunteers from the church (thank you guys soooo much!) and students from the local colleges (thank you, too!!) Ricky has grown exponentially in his ability to function in everyday situations.
It was a little over a year ago when we started this type of therapy, called Applied Behavior Analysis. It's basically one-on-one repetitive learning. Ricky learns by being shown the same things over and over again over a longer period of time than a typical child. The reason that we chose this type of therapy was that is has been shown to work effectively in preparing a child to function in typical life situations. Our ABA specialist, Jenny Fischer from Bend, has been tremendous with Ricky (and with his dimwitted father!).
Last year, Ricky had begun to injure himself by hitting himself in the face or legs, slamming his head into things repetitively, or by scratching himself with his fingernails. Needless to say, we strongly felt (through many tears) that we had to do something more drastic than group time a few times a week. There was no fear like watching your own child hurt himself and you didn't know why and couldn't stop him. We actually had Ricky wearing a bike helmet and mittens so that he would not bruise himself. It seems everywhere we went someone was looking at us with a look in their eyes that said, "What have you done to your child?!!" And we live in Eugene, where the strange is normal!
I guess the reason that I'm writing this is because I have seen the goodness of God in all of this. Through much struggle and many trials (try having different people in your house for 30 hrs/week when you're an introvert by nature! I love all of you IA's!!!) I have seen my little boy move from a child who sits by the wall and bangs his head into a little boy who plays with stuffed animals and loves to laugh. He no longer hits himself, is learning sign language, is using a few words, and all-in-all seems quite typical apart from his inability to speak (Ricky also has cleft palatte and is recovering from his 4th surgery, which was 2 weeks ago).
Going to school with him this year will be a challenge for me. I know that the Lord is going to be teaching me true heart patience and humility. Being Ricky's shadow has a tendency to weigh heavily upon my heart because my sinful flesh tries to wrest control from the Lord. I put heavy burdens upon myself to "fix" Ricky. I consider it, in times of small faith, my job to make sure that he succeeds in this classroom. In the light of the gospel, however, my little boy is secure. I know that if God loves us enough that He gave His Son in our place, then He will not hold back anything else that we need to find our joy in Him.
If it's one thing that Jesus brought when he established His kingdom is that He loves the marginalized, the weak, the outcast. He healed lepers, ate with brigands, and exorcised the demonic. God loves the weak, and any success in my boy's life is going to be due to the power of the Holy Spirit transforming his mind and healing his body. Now, I work with all that I've got for the growth of my son, but in the end I know that it is not due my work, or Katie's work, but the very Creator of my boy's mind that is doing His work of recreation. What sin has decreated, God is in the business of recreating. In this promise I take great joy!! Though I do not know the details of what the future may hold for Ricky, I know with great confidence that Jesus is restoring and recreating him. God's Holy Spirit is powerful to effect transformation, I have seen it happen time and again in the lives of people. If He has promised, He will follow through, for God cannot be untruthful to Himself.
So, I go with trepidation to sit on the floor and sing songs and glue stuff to other stuff with my son whom I love. My heart is seizing more of what Jesus meant when He said that we must become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Through great trials comes great humility and a desperate cry out to the Lord. When we are made powerless, then God shines in power, to His glory and His honor. If this struggle is what it takes for me to find my joy in the Lord, then I cherish it as my treasure. Deep repentance comes in such strange ways.
Lord, I want to learn patience, humility, and deep self-giving love. Bring it on at whatever the cost, that you may be worshipped in joy for your self-giving love in Christ.
Soli Dei Gloria,
Richard
Ricky has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum disorder, or for those unfamiliar with such language: he has autism. Through many hours of therapy (~30hrs/wk) organized by his mother and performed by volunteers from the church (thank you guys soooo much!) and students from the local colleges (thank you, too!!) Ricky has grown exponentially in his ability to function in everyday situations.
It was a little over a year ago when we started this type of therapy, called Applied Behavior Analysis. It's basically one-on-one repetitive learning. Ricky learns by being shown the same things over and over again over a longer period of time than a typical child. The reason that we chose this type of therapy was that is has been shown to work effectively in preparing a child to function in typical life situations. Our ABA specialist, Jenny Fischer from Bend, has been tremendous with Ricky (and with his dimwitted father!).
Last year, Ricky had begun to injure himself by hitting himself in the face or legs, slamming his head into things repetitively, or by scratching himself with his fingernails. Needless to say, we strongly felt (through many tears) that we had to do something more drastic than group time a few times a week. There was no fear like watching your own child hurt himself and you didn't know why and couldn't stop him. We actually had Ricky wearing a bike helmet and mittens so that he would not bruise himself. It seems everywhere we went someone was looking at us with a look in their eyes that said, "What have you done to your child?!!" And we live in Eugene, where the strange is normal!
I guess the reason that I'm writing this is because I have seen the goodness of God in all of this. Through much struggle and many trials (try having different people in your house for 30 hrs/week when you're an introvert by nature! I love all of you IA's!!!) I have seen my little boy move from a child who sits by the wall and bangs his head into a little boy who plays with stuffed animals and loves to laugh. He no longer hits himself, is learning sign language, is using a few words, and all-in-all seems quite typical apart from his inability to speak (Ricky also has cleft palatte and is recovering from his 4th surgery, which was 2 weeks ago).
Going to school with him this year will be a challenge for me. I know that the Lord is going to be teaching me true heart patience and humility. Being Ricky's shadow has a tendency to weigh heavily upon my heart because my sinful flesh tries to wrest control from the Lord. I put heavy burdens upon myself to "fix" Ricky. I consider it, in times of small faith, my job to make sure that he succeeds in this classroom. In the light of the gospel, however, my little boy is secure. I know that if God loves us enough that He gave His Son in our place, then He will not hold back anything else that we need to find our joy in Him.
If it's one thing that Jesus brought when he established His kingdom is that He loves the marginalized, the weak, the outcast. He healed lepers, ate with brigands, and exorcised the demonic. God loves the weak, and any success in my boy's life is going to be due to the power of the Holy Spirit transforming his mind and healing his body. Now, I work with all that I've got for the growth of my son, but in the end I know that it is not due my work, or Katie's work, but the very Creator of my boy's mind that is doing His work of recreation. What sin has decreated, God is in the business of recreating. In this promise I take great joy!! Though I do not know the details of what the future may hold for Ricky, I know with great confidence that Jesus is restoring and recreating him. God's Holy Spirit is powerful to effect transformation, I have seen it happen time and again in the lives of people. If He has promised, He will follow through, for God cannot be untruthful to Himself.
So, I go with trepidation to sit on the floor and sing songs and glue stuff to other stuff with my son whom I love. My heart is seizing more of what Jesus meant when He said that we must become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Through great trials comes great humility and a desperate cry out to the Lord. When we are made powerless, then God shines in power, to His glory and His honor. If this struggle is what it takes for me to find my joy in the Lord, then I cherish it as my treasure. Deep repentance comes in such strange ways.
Lord, I want to learn patience, humility, and deep self-giving love. Bring it on at whatever the cost, that you may be worshipped in joy for your self-giving love in Christ.
Soli Dei Gloria,
Richard
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Salvation is Not Through the Perfection of My Repentance, but by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus
It is not in the perfection of our repentance in which our salvation lies, any more than it is in the perfection of our faith. Rather, it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that our salvation lies, so it is objectively and divinely secured for us by our Savior, our Master, our God.
The reality of my soul's sin is that I am constantly finding myself trusting in things other than the Lord. I trust my intelligence, my morality, my own sense of being right, and I am always finding more contrition, more repentance, constantly turning away from putting my faith in myself. The Romans 7 reality of my struggle against the idolatry of my own heart and the sin which so easily entangles me must lead me to distrust even the perfection of my own repentance.
If I am trusting in the perfection of my repentance, where then does this lead me? Joy? Hope? No! Into utter fear and despair that my contrition might not be good enough and God's wrath may still be upon me! I am tossed about fearing that I may still not be good enough, contrite enough, repentant enough to earn God's mercy.
However, if my trust is not in the perfection of my repentance, but rather is in the death of Christ on my behalf, then I take great joy in HIS perfection of obedience and His atonement for my sins agaisnt God. HE has removed the wrath of God from me, which was justified because of my sins and has put His righteousness, the very righteousness of God, upon me. I trust in Him. God substituting Himself for sinners, of which I am coming more and more to understand my heart's propensity to join! What kind of grace is this?! Holy amazing grace of God, that You should die for me.
How vastly different from the pagan understanding of the gods is this? God appeasing His own just and righteous hatred of sin by becoming weak, so weak as to die under His own wrath. The pagan gods demanded sacrfices from humans. The biblical God demands sacrifice, and then pays it Himself!! The reality of our salvation is this concept of this self-substitution. John Stott says this,
“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.” (taken from The Cross of Christ)
There is joy! There is freedom from fear! There is hope! Jesus is my SAVIOR! He is my SECURITY! The Cross is my righteousness and by faith I will never be turned under God's wrath. To the repentant heart, with knowledge of the severity of his sin in light of the holy justice of God, this is truly GOOD NEWS! My debt is actually paid! My sins are actually cleansed! My life is actually secure because Jesus, my God, has removed the Father's righteous wrath and made me an acceptable son.
The blood of Jesus takes my sins away (1 John 1:7)!! Praise Jesus for His immeasurable kindness and unfathomable love!
Hebrews 10:19-22
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
Let us draw near to the Lord with great hope and assurance that Jesus has opened the way for us into the holy place of the Father. Draw near to Him, for He has drawn near to you.
The reality of my soul's sin is that I am constantly finding myself trusting in things other than the Lord. I trust my intelligence, my morality, my own sense of being right, and I am always finding more contrition, more repentance, constantly turning away from putting my faith in myself. The Romans 7 reality of my struggle against the idolatry of my own heart and the sin which so easily entangles me must lead me to distrust even the perfection of my own repentance.
If I am trusting in the perfection of my repentance, where then does this lead me? Joy? Hope? No! Into utter fear and despair that my contrition might not be good enough and God's wrath may still be upon me! I am tossed about fearing that I may still not be good enough, contrite enough, repentant enough to earn God's mercy.
However, if my trust is not in the perfection of my repentance, but rather is in the death of Christ on my behalf, then I take great joy in HIS perfection of obedience and His atonement for my sins agaisnt God. HE has removed the wrath of God from me, which was justified because of my sins and has put His righteousness, the very righteousness of God, upon me. I trust in Him. God substituting Himself for sinners, of which I am coming more and more to understand my heart's propensity to join! What kind of grace is this?! Holy amazing grace of God, that You should die for me.
How vastly different from the pagan understanding of the gods is this? God appeasing His own just and righteous hatred of sin by becoming weak, so weak as to die under His own wrath. The pagan gods demanded sacrfices from humans. The biblical God demands sacrifice, and then pays it Himself!! The reality of our salvation is this concept of this self-substitution. John Stott says this,
“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.” (taken from The Cross of Christ)
There is joy! There is freedom from fear! There is hope! Jesus is my SAVIOR! He is my SECURITY! The Cross is my righteousness and by faith I will never be turned under God's wrath. To the repentant heart, with knowledge of the severity of his sin in light of the holy justice of God, this is truly GOOD NEWS! My debt is actually paid! My sins are actually cleansed! My life is actually secure because Jesus, my God, has removed the Father's righteous wrath and made me an acceptable son.
The blood of Jesus takes my sins away (1 John 1:7)!! Praise Jesus for His immeasurable kindness and unfathomable love!
Hebrews 10:19-22
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
Let us draw near to the Lord with great hope and assurance that Jesus has opened the way for us into the holy place of the Father. Draw near to Him, for He has drawn near to you.
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