Repentance

While I walked through my bedroom today I noticed My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers sitting on my wife’s night stand. It has been a long time since I had read anything from that particular book. I opened it up and read a selection on repentance. After reading it I did the hard work of self examination… and it proved to be a great experience. The following is that insert… enjoy

Conviction of sin is best described in the words: My sins, my sins, my Savior, how sad on Thee they fall. Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not the person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God – “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalms 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything les is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes – a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses – repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.

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Good Friday

Understanding sin is a vital element in understanding the Gospel. We cannot understand grace if we do not understand sin. We cannot understand mercy if we do not understand sin. We cannot understand redemption, salvation, or forgiveness if we do not understand sin. A right understanding and application of the Gospel begins with a right understanding of sin. This is why J.C. Ryle said, “He must first dig down very low if he would build high.”

Good Friday is all about knowing Christ to be a great Savior. But we will never know Christ as a Great Savior if we do not first know ourselves to be great sinners. We will never feel conversion if we do not first feel conviction–desperation always precedes deliverance. In other words, we will never own God’s glorious salvation if we do not first own our grievous sin.

If we do not recognize our need for the Gospel we will never tune in to the Gospel. This is why the cross of Christ must be central to our understanding of the Gospel. Because the cross is like a thermometer reminding me of my great sickness, while at the same time it is like a barometer reminding me of God’s great salvation. It shows me my disease and points me to the cure.

Praise God that he sent his Son not just to share in our weaknesses, but to bear our iniquities. Praise God that the Suffering Servant was not just wounded for our identification, but for our transgressions. Praise God that the Son of man came not just be a restoration of our humanity, but a ransom for our sin. Praise God that our Brother shared not just in our humanity, but shared in our humanity that he might become a high priest in the service of God, a high priest who offered himself once for all as our eternal redemption. Because without the shedding of blood there can still be identification with humanity, but there cannot be the remission of sin.

So with these thoughts in mind, find a quiet place to meditate on these glorious words:

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,
vouchsafe to me 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 for thee.

I wish this was my original piece... however... i enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with those who would have never seen it otherwise... Original Site.

Who Am I ?

I remember sitting in an auditorium at the University of Central Florida my freshmen year of college, looking around at hundreds of people making their way to a seat before our Statistics class began. In that moment I realized that I was only a number to the professor who was down in front. Being a number is somewhat frustrating. No one cares who you are they just want your money and tests turned in promptly. It was a feeling that I did not particularly care for, however, many individuals walk around every day with this same sense of worthlessness.

As Christians the Bible is clear who we are in Christ. Although people throughout society might be asking themselves, "Who am I?" ... Christians can turn to Scripture to answer that inevitable question. The following is a list of verses that discuss who we are in Christ. Although there are millions of Christians all over the world... we are definitely not just another number to Jesus.

Eph. 1:1 - I am a saint.

Eph. 1:3-4 - I am chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless.

1 Thess. 1:4 - I am a chosen son/daughter, and dearly loved by God.

1 John 5:18 - I am born of God.

John 1:12 - I am a child of God.

Rom. 8:14,15 - I am a son/daughter of God.

Eph. 3:12 - I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Heb. 4:16 - I may approach the throne of grace with confidence to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Gal. 4:6-7 - I am an heir of God.

Rom. 8:16-17 - I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His righteousness with Him.

Rom. 5:1 - I have been justified, fully forgiven and made completely righteous in Christ.

Col. 2:13-14 - I have been made alive with Christ who has forgiven all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled.

Rom. 8:1 - I am forever free from condemnation.

1 Cor. 6:15-17 - I am joined to the Lord.

2 Cor. 5:18 - I am reconciled to God.

1 Cor. 6:20 - I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. I belong to God.

John 15:1,5 - I am a part of the true vine, sharing in its life.

Heb. 3:14 - I am a partaker of Christ, sharing His life.

1 Cor. 12:13 - I am a member of Christ's body.

1 Pet. 2:9,10 - I am a member of God's own people, a royal priesthood, a people for God's own possession.

1 Cor. 3:16 - I am a temple of the Spirit. His life dwells in me.

1 Cor. 2:12 - I have received the Spirit of God into my life so I can understand what God has freely given me.

Col. 1:13-14 - I have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Acts 26:18 - I have been taken from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

2 Pet. 1:4 - I have been given His exceedingly great and precious promises so I may participate in His holy nature and escape the corruption in the world.

Phil. 3:20 - I am a citizen of heaven.

Eph. 2:19 - I am a fellow citizen of God's household with the rest of God's family.

1 Thess. 5:5 - I am a son/daughter of light. I am of the day.
Eph. 5:8 - I am light in the Lord.

Eph. 2:10 - I am God's workmanship, born anew to do His work.

2 Cor. 5:19 - I am a minister of reconciliation.

Matt. 5:13 - I am the salt of the earth.

Matt. 5:14 - I am the light of the world.

2 Cor. 2:14 - I spread the sweet aroma of the fragrance of Christ.

Rom. 8:29 - I am going to be fully conformed to the likeness of Christ. God has already decided that.

Rom. 8:39-40 - I am secure in Christ. Nothing will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

These passages should fill us with joy, knowing that we are cherished by the Lord through Christ.