Horatius Bonar in Not Faith, But Christ on faith:
Faith is rest, not toil. It is the giving up all the former weary efforts to do or feel something good, in order to induce God to love and pardon; and the calm reception of the truth so long rejected, that God is not waiting for any such inducements, but loves and pardons of His own goodwill, and is showing that goodwill to any sinner who will come to Him on such a footing, casting away his own performances or goodnesses, and relying implicitly upon the free love of Him who so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.
4 comments:
Rick,
I read this, and what strikes me most is that I'm not sure if "sinners" feel this way anymore. I don't think people are even an iota as spiritually aware as Bonar assumes, which was based on people of his day. What "sinners" out there are worrying about their performance spiritually? I certainly don't see this. Perhaps performance at work or at home, but nothing that has to do with performing for God.
Agreed. I was thinking more in terms of addressing the lies Satan would like 'believers' to accept and God's truth to counter these:
Lie 1 - Those who fail are unworthy of love and deserve to be blamed and condemned. God's truth, 1 Jn 4.9-10, propitiation, we are deeply loved by God.
Lie 2 - I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself. God's truth, 2 Co 5.21, justification, I am completely forgiven and fully pleasing.
Lie 3 - I must be approved (accepted) by certain others to feel good about myself. God's truth, Col 1.21-22, reconciliation, I am totally accepted by God.
Lie 4 - I am what I am; I cannot change; I am hopeless. God's truth, 2 Co 5.17, regeneration, I am absolutely complete in Christ.
Rick,
Lies 1-3 pose an interesting problem that goes back to the problem I cited yesterday.
In what terms do I think about those lies? As spiritual or everyday living?
In all honesty, a person can without a doubt believe that all three of those are lies from God's perspective, yet they are rock solid truth from the perspective of the world. Now, on a daily basis, which matters more?
If your spouse hates you, you boss wants to fire you, and you are constantly disappointing people because their expectations of you are out of whack and misinformed, does the reality that you are loved by God trump those real world realities? Wouldn't the love of God best be shown in that your spouse loves you, your boss lauds you, and people have realistic expectations of you?
I think this is where most people stumble anymore. The concepts are great, the talk is fine, but the reality doesn't reflect either. I don't think the Church is doing a good job overcoming that issue for many people. It's why the Church is increasingly identified by people outside it as a quaint idea that doesn't quite work in real life.
And yet, this is the narrow way and it is only he who overcomes until the end that will win the race therefore i find these truths comforting when sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit - not necessarily when the world, the church, etc. treat me any different.
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