Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away
"The best obedience of my hands
dares not appear before Thy throne
But faith can answer Thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done"
From 'I Boast No More' by Isaac Watts
I had a really good day today. Flat tires, unexpected meetings, and sickness were the rule and not the exception, but through it all the Holy Spirit gave me strength to bless God's name and turn to him when trials came. There was victory through the fight.
The good days present one of the worst temptations a Christian can face. Good days (and for lack of a better phrase - good performances)tempt me to approach God on my own merit instead of the sacrifice of Christ. As I was driving home from work and thinking of my day I realized my sin. I realized (by the Spirit's conviction) that I needed to repent for my trust in my "goodness."
One of my favorite gospel preachers says, "Pharisees repent for their badness. Christians repent for their goodness." Jesus said the prostitutes and tax collectors would enter the kingdom before the Pharisees because they saw their need for a savior. I am thankful today that God has allowed me to see that my righteousness is as a filthy rag before His holiness. I am broken and humbled to know that my best obedience does not dare approach God's throne. However, I approach him boldly tonight knowing my Redeemer lives and is interceding for me based on his perfect righteousness.
4 comments:
I just got something I wanted to share with you guys. We missed church this weekend, so I just listened to the sermon online. My pastor called everyone's attention to Romans 8, where it talks about being more than conquerors. He pointed out that the Greek word that is translated as conqueror here in Romans is the same Greek word that is translated as overcomer in Revelation. He also pointed out all the things that are mentioned as not being able to separate us from the love of Christ and said, "Do these things not sound a lot like the things described in Revelation?" And he said that the way we will be the overcomers in Revelation is found right here in Romans 8. We are more than conquerors, or overcomers, THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.
I don't know if this will mean as much to anybody else as it does to me. But because of the heavy emphasis on overcoming meaning "literal perfection required" from us, I have struggled with these passages that do seem to indicate (in light of my spiritual conditioning) that there is a performance factor to salvation/eternal life.
Having this parallel to Romans and reading the entire chapter with this in mind was so exciting for me that I had to share it.
We already ARE more than conquerors through Christ. Should our lives and our choices reflect that? Absolutely. But it is our faith in His promise that He wants. And if we believe Him, our life WILL reflect it.
You can listen to the sermon if you want to by going to www.wochurch.org and clicking on sermons online. It is the third in a series on God's Promises and is the most recent sermon available.
shari, it seems that your continued "struggle" may be over finally. I hope that is the case. It's good to see someone who finally sees that faith is not the fruit of works, but that works are the fruit of faith.
Ann
Ann, I responded to your comment at length and I don't know what happened to my post. It has never appeared on the blog. So I will try again. If the original post appears following this, I apologize in advance for being redundant.
I forget there may be people reading this blog who don't know me or my background.
My struggle will probably continue. I spent 43 of my 47 years believing that no one went to heaven based on faith in Christ alone. I was not taught that faith was the fruit of works, but I was taught that Jesus died for my past sins and then "making it" (the bride, heaven) depended upon my righteousness. If I reached perfection (a sinless life) before I died, I would "move out a live soul" like Stephen. If I did not, I would resurrect, in the same condition I died in, at the end of the thousand years and have the opportunity to finish being perfected in order to "make it." If not, I would die and be eternally separated from God. If I couldn't do it the first time, I wasn't sure why I would be able to do it the second time. I used to wonder if, somehow, knowing I had been raised from the dead would make it easier. But what is more miraculous? Being raised from the dead physically or spiritually? Which SHOULD be a more powerful motivator?
Many requirements were added to faith by my spiritual leadership. Literal, moral perfection was synonymous with the term overcomer all of my life. I started thinking about God requiring my perfection at a young age.
This is why I was so excited about the parallel between the words in Romans and Revelation.
Those teachings had a profound spiritual impact upon my life. I still struggle to believe God's clear promises in the Bible based on things men have said to me from a pulpit.
So, while I cannot say that my struggle is over, I know that God will deliver me. But it will be an ongoing process. I hope this sheds more light on my comments.
I just read I John 5 (the whole chapter) and I can't believe I never saw the simple truth it contains about how we overcome!
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