Every virtue must be His

I’ve long ago given up saying things like, “So and so would be such a good Christian,” for I know now that natural virtues are useless in the kingdom of God. I’ve realized this in the most difficult possible way --- by having them stripped away leaving me helpless.
 

Oswald Chambers says this is a sure sign that God is at work. He destroys confidence in natural virtues because they are not what He is building in His people. These are remnants of what God intended and may look good on the surface, but He knows and He shows me how even the best I have has been thoroughly ruined by the Fall.

Yet I cling to natural virtues. They not only seem right, but they are expressions of my self, giving me some value before God even as I say that I fall short and need Jesus Christ. From experience, I am learning how sad and how frustrating to try and serve God depending not on His grace but on what I have by the accident of heredity. It is a most difficult lesson to learn that God isn’t going to build up my skills and abilities or even transfigure them --- for nothing in me can ever come anywhere near what Jesus Christ is and wants. Unsaved or saved, I fall short.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested . . . through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . .  (Romans 3:21–23)

The life God planted in me means a development of a new creation. He isn’t remaking even the virtues Adam had before the Fall, but the character of Jesus Christ. As He withers up my confidence in anything in myself and in any power I might have, He wants me to learn to draw my life from the resurrection life of Jesus. He wants me to say what all who worship Him must learn to say . . .

Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.” (Psalm 87:7)

Natural love, patience, and purity cannot measure up to God’s demands. His life in Christ is so much more than I can imagine, never mind duplicate. Even my best interferes with His plans.

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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:20–21)

The only way to experience it is by dying totally to my old life --- even yielding the best of me, so that Jesus Christ rules entirely.

God’s love story

This week’s lectures point out that the great theme of the Bible is a love story. It is the account of God seeking a Bride for Himself, of His efforts to both win her and purify her. In the end, there will be a great marriage feast as this Bride, the church made up of all faithful followers, is presented to Him.

This morning’s assignment called me to read Hosea. It is the account of God asking this prophet to marry an unfaithful prostitute to illustrate what had become of His relationship with His people. In their idolatry, they had lost their first love, but God wanted them to know that He would take them back, even though they had sinned against Him. As I read, I felt the guilt of my own tendency to wander away from God and rely on myself or other things instead of Him.

Then I turned to today’s devotional reading from a sermon by George Whitefield called, “Christ, the best Husband.” This reading asks questions about human desires and points to Jesus as the answer, the lover that can satisfy all that anyone could ever want.

Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him. (Psalm 45:10–11)

Whitefield says this psalm is called the song of loves and is about the most pure and spiritual love, that love  between Christ and His people. Those espoused to Christ know and speak with Him, try to promote His interests and advance His name. We ought to deeply adore Him for He is the only lover worth seeking. Whitefield goes on to describe this One who loves me…

He is great, the glory of heaven, admired by angels, dreaded by devils, and adored by saints. I can look up to Him with respect and awe for He alone is worthy of all worship.

He is wealthy, the fullness of the earth belongs to Him, and He freely shares His riches with all those who are united to Him. I will not suffer for He supplies all that I need.

He is wise. No one compares to Him in wisdom. His knowledge is infinite and He knows the hearts and needs of His people. He guides those espoused to Him with that great and unequaled understanding. I can trust Him.

He is powerful. He defends me against all enemies. Any insults against me fall on Him. He takes the blows, but also protects me from myself, from my own foolishness. With Him, I am safe.

He is good. There is none like Christ. Others may have some goodness, but it is imperfect. Christ is sinless. In Him dwells no evil. I need not fear any harm from Him.

He is beautiful, the most lovely person in the world. His beauty is not about appearance, but about character. All those who are beloved have beauty, but this One is most beloved is also most beautiful. I can be His and be delighted with Him.

He loves me. No one can love me like Jesus. He died for me. He lives for me. He thinks about me always, and stays with me through every experience, every situation. No matter how often I neglect Him or forget Him, He never leaves me or forsakes me. His love is proven over and over. Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ, not even my lack of faithfulness as illustrated in the story of Hosea.

The psalm says that the King of glory desires my beauty. What does this mean? In a passage where husbands are told to love their wives, that love is compared to the love of my Lord, and shows what kind of beauty He desires in me.

… love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25–27)

Physical beauty is a fading thing, but there is another kind of beauty in the eyes of God. He loves a gentle, quiet spirit. He loves faithfulness and purity. Those who belong to Him are precious, like jewels. We are His Bride, the sinners that He died for, these He pursued and won for Himself. Not only that, He is in the process of making us as lovely as He is, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. This is His love story.