"God gave Israel the covenant of law in the middle of the wilderness, away from all distractions, all interference, and all hiding places. They had nothering to focus on but God, and in doing so became terribly aware of their own sinfulness. The first thing that leads a person to repentance and dependence on God for deliverance is the awareness of his sinfulness. Apart from seeing his sinfulness, a person has no reason to seek salvation. Only seeing our own sin can make us see our need for salvation from sin and the judgment it brings. This was the purpose of Sinai, to bring the people face to face with their own sinfulness, with no place to hide."
-John MacArthur, from his commentary on Hebrews, pg. 412 concerning verses 12:18-21.
"We know, of course, how central the forgiveness of our sins is to salvation. We preach it, we believe in it. We see that first repentance and surrender to Christ as a glorious moment. We also accept that having come to the Lord, we must continue to purify our lives. 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.' 1 John 1:9. But in talking with many believers, I get the impression that most of us consider the on-going repentance of the saved as a not-so-glorious experience. A sort of sad necessity.
Sin grieves God. We must not down-play the seriousness of it in the life of a believer. But we must come to terms with the fact that God's Grace is GREATER THAN ALL OUR SINS. Repentance is one of the Christian's highest privileges. A repentant Christian focuses on God's mercy and God's grace. Any moment in our lives when we bask in God's mercy and grace is our highest moment. Higher than when we feel smug in our decent performance and cannot thing of anything we need to confess.
Whenever we fail - and fail we will, the Spirit of God will work on us and bring us to the foot of the cross where Jesus carried our failures. That is potentially a glorious moment. For we could at that moment accept God's abundant Mercy and Grace and go forth with nothing to boast of except Christ Himself, or else we struggle with our shame, focusing on that as well as our track record. We fail because we have shifted our attention from Grace and Mercy. One who draws on God's Mercy and Grace is quick to repent, but also slow to sin."
-Mutua Mahiaini, a letter he wrote Jerry Bridges, and is featured in The Discipline of Grace.
Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded
O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns thine only crown.
How pale thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn,
How does that visage languish,
Which once was bright as morn!
What thou, my Lord, has suffered
Was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior;
Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Assist me with Thy grace.
What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this, Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment