Looking for the Key
Because of the indwelling Spirit, Christians share an innate desire to show love toward God and others. Sadly, however, we frequently fall short of the ideal. We find ourselves overcome with frustration, agonizing over why our affections suffer seasons of drought while the old river of selfishness surges on, seemingly with relentless vigor. At one time or other, we have all searched within ourselves to find the key to Christian love. In vain we sought means by which to overcome sin and open the door to practical holiness. Perhaps the problem was that we expected this key to be stashed inside a pocket of personal goodness, some last reserve of dutiful self-will which could be activated, once found. Did we ever think to look under the filthy doormat of personal guilt?
The Importance of Sensing Guilt
Guilt is almost a foul word in the minds of many today, who plant their feet firmly in the vacuous power of "positive thinking." Feeling guilty is damaging to the psyche, they say, and stunts one's confidence to live effectively. While professing to be teachers of the word, some even dare to omit all "negative terminology" found in scripture -- words like sin, guilt, and debt -- for fear these ideas will diminish their listener's confidence and faith, if not alienate them entirely. To such optimistic ignoramuses, the will to love comes in large part by telling oneself over and over that we ought to love, and can love, if only we believe in our ability. Believe that God believes in us! Believe in ourselves!
Thus it comes as a surprise for some to hear that acknowledging personal guilt plays a
crucial role in Christian love. In fact, the matter is so essential to the life of faith, that we are taught in the Lord's prayer to confess our sins daily. (Luke 11:4) Fresh awareness of the "sinfulness of sin," as one Puritan author phrased it [1], should not undermine faith in the power of Christ's work, received through faith alone, but should underscore it. This is because, in the case of believers, the purpose of guilt is never to condemn, but to refocus our eyes back on the grace we receive freely and securely in Jesus, our sufficient Sacrifice and Redeemer.
The Key to Love
The Key to Love
If the essence of practical holiness is love toward God and one's neighbor, the key to holy living is set forth plainly in scripture. "He who has been forgiven much loves much." (Luke 7:47) To the extent one feels his sins to be worthy of indefinitely extended punishment,
and believes Christ to have finished suffering in his place, he will be empowered
by the Spirit to rejoice in grateful love. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the life of the Apostle Paul. This one-time Pharisee of Pharisees, who considered
himself the very "chief of sinners," (1 Tim 1:15) became the Apostle who
"labored above all others." (1 Cor. 15:9-10) What was his enabling motive? "Love
compels me," he said. (2 Cor. 5:14) A deep sense of personal debt under the law, and of even deeper riches of grace given to him in Christ, inspired Paul to grateful service.
Growing in the Knowledge of Guilt and Grace
Devilish claims have been made by deluded individuals, that the way to grow in gratitude is to sin all the more, and so to increase one's apprehension of guilt and grace. Scripture condemns such wicked and unregenerate assertions. "Shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!" (Rom. 6:1,2) What we need is not more sin, but more sight, to see the disparity of our guilt in proportion to the holiness and goodness of God. Contrast is wanted in our hearts to greatly distinguish between the depravity of man and the greatness of our Lord against whom all sin is committed. To reckon sin in blacker shades, we must see Christ transfigured in the light of His infinite divinity, resplendent with
glory and grace.
This sort of spiritual vision comes not by natural power, but through a Spirit-wrought increase of faith in the testimony of scripture. The ordinary means by which this spiritual work is accomplished are simple: word, sacrament, and prayer. As we sit under the faithful preaching of the word, and receive by faith the gospel portrayed in the sacraments, we are enabled to apprehend more distinctly the wonderful grace of God. Instead of fleeing like burdened hermits to mournful isolation, we are called each Lord's Day to hear again the story of Redemption, to "taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)
This three-fold harmony of guilt, grace, and gratitude, is the cycle of true Christian piety. We feel our guilt and weakness; we appeal to Christ and trust in grace. The result is gratitude and love. For the believer, love is an organism of gratitude, whose liveliness grows in proportion to his apprehension of guilt and grace. When at last we cease searching empty pockets of personal goodness, we find in guilt the unlikely key to love.
This sort of spiritual vision comes not by natural power, but through a Spirit-wrought increase of faith in the testimony of scripture. The ordinary means by which this spiritual work is accomplished are simple: word, sacrament, and prayer. As we sit under the faithful preaching of the word, and receive by faith the gospel portrayed in the sacraments, we are enabled to apprehend more distinctly the wonderful grace of God. Instead of fleeing like burdened hermits to mournful isolation, we are called each Lord's Day to hear again the story of Redemption, to "taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)
This three-fold harmony of guilt, grace, and gratitude, is the cycle of true Christian piety. We feel our guilt and weakness; we appeal to Christ and trust in grace. The result is gratitude and love. For the believer, love is an organism of gratitude, whose liveliness grows in proportion to his apprehension of guilt and grace. When at last we cease searching empty pockets of personal goodness, we find in guilt the unlikely key to love.
[1] http://www.monergismbooks.com/Sinfulness-of-Sin-PP-p-16239.html
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© Michael Spotts:. 2010
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You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this article in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge any fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For printed copies, as well as web posting, please include the following statement:
By M. Benjamin Spotts:.
Copyright © The Open Life
www.theopenlife.com
Titus 3:3-8
© Michael Spotts:. 2010
———————
You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this article in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge any fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For printed copies, as well as web posting, please include the following statement:
By M. Benjamin Spotts:.
Copyright © The Open Life
www.theopenlife.com
Titus 3:3-8
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