Refreshed

I recently read this article from John Piper, http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/i-know-god-loves-me-but-does-he-like-me, and I appreciate his reminder that God takes great delight in His children. I was reminded of Hebrews 2:11 (ESV): “For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” Or as the NIV puts it: “Both the One who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers [and sisters].” It seems to me that our modern, Western idea of family has not only diminished the depth of our relationships within the Church, but has also depreciated our understanding of God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother. God’s love for us is not an obligation, but a deep affection flowing from the heart of a father.

As Piper mentions in his article, our own awareness of our sinfulness hinders our perception of God’s love. How could He desire to be with a person who keeps breaking the law? But that reveals an underlying misunderstanding (or doubt) about what Scripture says of those who are in Christ. Galatians 2:20 (ESV) says, “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.” We have more knowledge of our sinful condition than we do of our holy position in Christ.

In his commentary on Galatians 2:17-20, Martin Luther made the following comments:

“The Law drives us away from God, but Christ reconciles God unto us, for ‘He is the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.’ Now if the sin of the world is taken away, it is taken away from me. If sin is taken away, the wrath of God and His condemnation are also taken away. Let us practice this blessed conviction” (48). 

“Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: ‘I am now one with Christ. Therefore Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine.’ On the other hand, Christ may say: ‘I am that big sinner. His sins and his death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him’” (53). 

“For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness. Read the words ‘me’ and ‘for me’ with great emphasis. Print this ‘me’ with capital letters in your heart, and do not ever doubt that you belong to the number of those who are meant by this ‘me.’ Christ did not only love Peter and Paul. The same love He felt for them He feels for us” (57).

You can begin to sense some of the amazement Luther felt when he realized that justification is by grace through faith, not by works. And it’s not just that we are legally made right with God, but that He truly loves us, accepts us, and delights in us. He doesn’t just take away our guilt for sins we’ve committed, but He adopts us into His family on equal footing with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:16-17).

Though I’ve known these truths for many years, lately I’ve encountered several refreshing reminders in Scripture (eg. Eph. 1:4-5; Gal. 4:7; Isaiah 43:4; 1 Cor. 6:11) and in other reading. We can quickly forget who we are and as Piper noted, we need to take a “Bible bath” to renew our minds with the truth.

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Remember

There’s a hymn that has been going through my mind for several days now, “I Then Shall Live” by Gloria Gaither (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsq3aDNhZIQ). The first verse starts “I then shall live as one who’s been forgiven...”

It got me thinking—what exactly does it mean to live as one who’s been forgiven, and how do we learn to do that? Interestingly, the tune of the song is the same as that of “Be Still, My Soul,” which perhaps answers some of my questions:

Be still, my soul! The Lord is on your side:
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! Your best, your heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

I won’t quote all the verses, but they are a powerful reminder of God’s presence, provision, and protection. Living and walking in forgiveness seems to depend greatly on believing that God is who He says He is—that He really has forgiven, He is in control, and He will guide. The more we believe and trust God, the easier it becomes to be still and rest in His forgiveness.

Certainly there are things we can do to foster our faith: through spending time in reading Scripture and hearing it explained, prayer, worship, fellowship, and discipleship. I think the challenge is that as our faith grows, so does the opposition we face from the enemy. We have a real enemy who would like to see us abandon our faith, and he’ll stop at nothing to make us think we are unforgiven, beyond help, and hopeless. Our main defense against his attacks is the same one Jesus used when facing temptation: Scripture. Without that as our foundation, we will be blown about “by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” of our enemy (Ephesians 4:14 ESV).

Where I come up against it is in dealing with unpredictable emotions (thanks depression!). It is easy to give in to negative feelings and let them lead to negative thoughts rather than trying to remember the truths of Scripture and following them to the fruit of joy and peace. Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes a good point in his book Spiritual Depression:

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, ‘Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.’”

The prophet Habakkuk says something similar. After complaining to God and questioning His plan for two chapters, he begins praying and remembering what God has done. He finishes with: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength…” (Hab. 3:17-19).

When it comes to learning to “live as one who’s been forgiven,” it takes a constant rehearsal of what God has done and what He has promised to do. I probably repeat this theme quite often in my blogs, but that’s because I find it so hard to practice in daily life, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I guess that’s why Scripture so often tells us to remember—through the daily or weekly gathering of believers, through communion, and through the annual holy days such as Easter. God knows how difficult it is for us to remember, so He provides opportunities for us to remind one another.

May this Easter be one of remembering the past with gratitude, celebrating our current forgiveness, and joyfully anticipating the future.

“‘He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered His words” (Luke 24:6-7).