The Lord continues to do amazing work in my heart, especially when I pause and consider what has transpired over the past few years and especially since I moved to Alabama, but there still remains much work to do in my heart for the rest of my life. As I continue to read the Bible daily and ponder what Christ has done for me, I become more aware of my depravity and how dependant I am upon the Holy Spirit for my sanctification. On my good days, I am careful to obey his commandments and emulate Christ's example in my life.
However, there are times when I chose to deliberately rebel and dishonor God by, for example, doing things that is explicitly forbidden in the Bible, not loving my neighbors as myself, or not doing things that should have been done. I may have minimized certain sins in my life or even sinned against God without knowing it. When I sin, I am convicted of what I have done by the Holy Spirit and thus turn back to God. I have been sobered by the truth that I have not loved God as much as I should have, and I suspect that this is something that everyone struggle with, regenerated or not.
Yet, the reason why I am bold enough to come back and ask him for forgiveness is because I know God has cast out my sin as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). God looks at me through the righteousness of his Son, not the filth of my own sins. Jesus Christ bore the eternal penalty of all my sins upon the cross at Golgotha. My heart is filled not only with an indescribable joy but also a deep sense of mourning and remorse because I know I still blatantly rebel against God while knowing that the guiltless Son died for all of my sins. I hate some of the things that I continually do. Romans 7:15 describes this inner turmoil within my heart the best:
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”In those moments of rebellion, I can identify myself with the Roman soldier who spitted in the face of Jesus, a Pharisee who shouted, “Crucify Him,” and a bystander who ridiculed and mocked Jesus as he hung on the cross, naked and completely humiliated. Yet, Jesus looks at me, his body and face being torn and beyond human resemblance, with his loving eyes and says, “Father, forgive him, for he know not what he does” (cf. Lk 23:34).
Because of Christ’s relentless love toward us (remember, He died not only for every person in this world, but also for you individually), I place my full confidence and all of my hope in him alone. The grace of God is the only thing that sustains me everyday. And this hope gives me life! This hope, fully dependant upon Christ’s righteousness and not my own, gives me enough strength and determination to wage a warfare against the darkness that surrounds me and the sins that are inside me. I can declare that I am truly free and can live out my life for him without any inhibitions.
All of my fears are removed because of this hope.
I wanted to encourage all of you – especially those who may not know Christ – to place your hope in the only place that is safe. When all of this is said and done, there will come a day in the future when each of us will stand before a Holy God and be fearfully aware of the wrath we deserve. Jesus is our only hope.
“In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.”
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