All things means all things...

This week a twelve-year-old child told me that when a Christian sins, it draws them closer to God. In the context of that conversation, how amazing that a child figures out what many adults do not get.  Charnock’s book says the wonder of God’s wisdom is that He can take a sin that we consider fits us for hell and use it as an occasion to fit us for heaven. He can use it to produce in us a more humble faith and a more thorough sanctification. Such growth in grace prepares us for a state of glory. He is an awesome God.

Charnock illustrates saying how the stirring of corruption makes all the mud at the bottom appear, mud that I did not suspect was there. It comes out with the stirring and this discovers and separates it so I can confess it. Sin makes my conscience more tender. I am more watchful and realize that my enemy has more strength than I suspected. I become more diligent, more aware of the deceitfulness of my heart and better able to watch for and resist sin, “more careful of anything that may contribute to the resurrection of an expired disease.”

Another illustration is how a scorpion or a bee loses its sting when it bites, it becomes incapable of a second attack. Like Peter after his gross denial, he never denied his Master afterwards. That sin lost its power. In the same way, any sin that is undiscovered and then, by a fall, becomes visible, becomes more horrible to me and others, and causes those who sin to take a tighter hold on Christ and a greater determination to defeat sin. His forgiveness and cleansing results in more zeal and more strength because of have less confidence in myself, and more in God.

Charnock notes that David prayed, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:3) He was not praying for his single sin with Bathsheba, but realized more of his general sinfulness.

Also, a great fall sometimes becomes the occasion of a person’s conversion, just as God uses the sins of His people to bring a more extensive sanctification. The only wise God makes poisons in nature to become medicines in His grace and wisdom. Through the mighty working of the Spirit, He makes us more humble and humility fits us to receive even greater blessings: “He gives more grace…. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

In describing true repentance, the Bible says:

For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. (2 Corinthians 7:11)

I’ve realized that If evil were not in the world, we would not know what good is, nor would we understand the power of God’s wisdom, just as without night we could not understand the beauty of the day. Even though God is not the author of sin because of his holiness, He uses sin by His wisdom, and accomplishes His purposes by the iniquities of his enemies, and the lapses and infirmities of his friends.

PRAY: Jesus, just as You make this clear and as Ephesians 1 points out, You work all things according to the counsel of Your will, even our sin, so we might be praise of Your glory. May my faith in You run so deep then whenever sin strikes, I respond by confessing it and listening for what You are saying. Enable me to obey You accordingly, rather than making excuses or doing anything else that sinfully neglects to honor You.

Pride is a huge turn-off

Every now and then I get upset when it seems someone is telling others they need Jesus with the underlining message that the other person is not acceptable unless they are a Christian. The other person seems resentful of this put-down and less interested in hearing more.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit’s task is to convict sinners about their unbelief. This does not mean that I should merely pray and never tell others the good news of the gospel. It does mean that my attitude should never be one of superiority because I am saved and considered righeous in God’s sight but that other person is still in sin and not acceptable.  

The Bible is full of instruction on the attitudes God wants in my life. They are summed up in loving Him and loving others. That love for others is exemplified in Jesus Christ. He told His disciples:

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13)

This means Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not to save the righteous, the fervent, and the earnest workers, but simply and only to save sinners. Some will say they are too far gone to save. At the other end of the spectrum are those who boast that God saved them, as if they somehow deserved it. Besides…

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

This means that no one, even the most pious of God’s children, can lord it over others as if their position in Christ makes them superior. Jesus came to save sinners and that attitude is contrary to the reason Jesus saved me! Pride has no place in why He did it.

Perhaps one of the reasons that the Apostle Paul was mightily used by God is about his attitude. He said this:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15)

Instead of putting himself on a pedestal, this man of God identified with those Jesus came to save. He was merciful and even though he led a sacrificial life, it was not characterized by a self-righteous attitude nor did he use his position in Christ to manipulate others. He wrote about his attitude:

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! (2 Corinthians 10:1)
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. (1 Thessalonians 2:7)
In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)

Today’s devotional warns me not to fix my eyes on myself or wonder if I am ‘good enough’ because I cannot answer these questions for myself, never mind impose such questions to others in the hope that they will be convicted of their sin and want to know Christ and salvation. All that would do is exalt self and fill me with self-congratulation and pride… and turn off the other person.

PRAY: Lord, in this I realize that exalting myself for not exalting myself is a form of pride too. Enable humility that shows up in all my interactions with others, even in my interactions with those who are filled with pride at being saved from sin. They don’t deserve even the least of Your mercies — and neither do I.
 

Choosing Humility

 

At times I’ve wondered why God left us with this old nature that is so contrary to His Spirit and to the way He wants us to live. The obvious answer is that this is not heaven, not the place where God’s people will be perfect. But there is another reason; whenever I fall back into trying to live in my own strength or doing things my way instead of His, and it fails as it always does, I am deeply humbled. And God blesses humility.

The Bible describes humility and shows how God humbles His people and why. Their wanderings through the wilderness after being delivered from slavery was both humiliating for them and yet for their good:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

God fed them in the wilderness with manna to humble and test them, to bless them. (Deuteronomy 8:16) However, He expected them to humble themselves, to seek Him rather than sin. He said:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Nebuchadnezzar figured it out. He said, “Praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel understood it too and was rewarded as the angel of the Lord said to him, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 4:37; 10:12)

Jesus gave an illustration: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4) and a reason for humility: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) He also set the ultimate example:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

The NT is clear that, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) Humble people know they cannot run their own lives, but instead run to Jesus for everything. He is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, justification, my fortress, strength, and hiding place. Without Him I am nothing and can do nothing. The problem is: even though I know it, I forget it, or take it for granted, or assume my latest idea or plan will work, or simply try taking back control for some silly reason only to fall flat on my face.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (including doing my own thing). I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:17–26)

PRAY: I thank You for the wonder of forgiveness and the price paid for my salvation. I praise You for new life and the ability to humble myself and choose obedience. It would be wonderful if that came easily under the pressures and desires of my old nature, and sometimes it does, yet too often am humbled by failure and the wrong choice rather than letting You lead me, so again, thank You for the wonder of forgiveness.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

READ: 1 John 1:5-2:6. What does this say about how to humble myself?