Forgiveness With God

"If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."

Psalm 130:3-4

Last night I tossed and turned after going to bed.  Summer heat coupled with sinus congestion made initial attempts to sleep fruitless.  So I decided to meditate on noble and praiseworthy aspects of God's character in gratitude.  Paul's exhortation in Philippians 4:8 is fitting for night and day:  "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."  Who is more true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, or praiseworthy than God?  He is the ultimate personification of all these qualities and infinitely more.

Isn't it amazing a holy and just God of absolute purity should be forgiving?  If God gave us sinners what we deserve we would be consumed in eternal fire.  God is forgiving because He is loving but not at the expense of justice.  If God marked our iniquities forever eternity in hell would be our just lot.  It is phenomenal that not only does God forgive us of sins but fully pardons us through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.  We who place our faith in Jesus as LORD and Saviour and are born again He expunges our permanent record of sins.  Having nailed the Law which condemned us to the cross, we are forever free of condemnation.  In His grace the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is imputed or credited to each soul purchased by the Gospel.

The Psalmist makes a remarkable conclusion concerning the impact being forgiven ought to have on us:  "But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."  The fear of God is not always accompanied with forgiveness and salvation, for even the demons tremble in fear before the Almighty.  The point is all who have been forgiven ought to fear and reverence God.  It would be a grave error to not fear God after He has revealed Himself to us, offered Himself as a sacrifice for sins as our substitute, redeemed us from the curse, and has adopted us as His own beloved children.  If the fear of God worked in us as aliens from the commonwealth of God, condemned by our sins for eternity, how much more ought we fear Him as LORD and Father!  On the basis of His forgiveness alone He deserves our fear, obedience, and undying love.

The Psalmist concluded the song with the result of forgiveness and fearing the LORD in Psalm 130:5-7:  "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning--yes, more than those who watch for the morning. ⁷ O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption."  In the fear of the LORD the psalmist waited for the LORD and hoped in His Word.  There was an expectancy in hearing from the LORD which was more sure than sun rising over the horizon.  In the darkness we can hope in the LORD because there is mercy and abundant redemption in Him.  How good is God and great is His kindness and grace to us!  Praise the LORD there is forgiveness with Him, and blessed are those who fear and hope in Him.

Embracing Personal Change

Positive though change may be, there is in everyone natural resistance to personal change we don't want.  Maybe we cannot see the benefit or need to change; changing requires too much sacrifice or does not fit our ideal.  Receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour brings about a dynamic, transformational change of the heart and mind of Christians that is continual and relentless as we grow in grace.  As long as we remain in these bodies of flesh there will be conflict Paul described between our flesh and the new man created after Jesus Christ.  Our call is not to focus primarily on the need of others to change but to hear the echo of Christ's words to Peter who wondered about John's responsibility:  "What is that to you?  You follow Me."

Even as the flesh resists the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, so those who reject Christ as Saviour rebuff the efforts of God's people to affect godly transformation.  An example of this tendency is seen in Acts 17:5-8 which took place in Thessalonica:  "But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. ⁷ Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king--Jesus." ⁸ And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things."

Motivated by envy, the outraged mob resorted to violently dragging Christians before the rulers of the city, slandering them as rabble--when it was they who were guilty of such things.  They mis-characterised the believers by accusing them of being loyal to Jesus rather than Caesar and troubled the people.  While it is true the Christian's loyalty and obedience to God is to be the utmost priority, what they did not understand or glossed over were the teachings of Jesus which commanded believers to honour and obey the authorities He has established.  Followers of Jesus ought to be numbered among the most honest, obedient, and faithful citizens as they minister unto the LORD.  There is a way a half-truth can be told which obscures the real truth and troubles minds who know not Christ as LORD.  Besides, turning a world "upside down" isn't a bad thing when it puts things right.

The Christian call is not to turn the world upside down but to follow Jesus Christ in faith.  In a world fixated on activism, rebelling against authority, or places faith in government to change society Jesus empowers us by His grace to be personally transformed and live for Him.  God can mightily use one person yielded in submission to Him (and even a graceless wretch!) to impact others and the world for good.  The examples in scripture and even in our day are beyond number.  God used reluctant Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.  God called and filled John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit to prepare the way for all people to see the salvation of God through Jesus.  Paul was born again through faith in Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles.  The impact of what men and women have done in obedience to God to this day continue to reverberate around the globe with eternal ramifications.

The dynamic between the unbelieving world and the church can also be seen between individual believers and the Body of Christ.  During seasons of personal growth there is always a temptation to look upon "the church" with disdain:  the church is too worldly, not sufficiently engaged with social issues, not committed enough to mission work, quenching the Spirit, worship is dead, preaching is dry, people are not politically engaged, ad nauseam.  In this case what is true in society is true in the church, that the church can only change as much as individuals are changed.  It is not other people changing which is to be our main goal but to look to Jesus in faith and obedience.  It is not even changing myself which is to be my primary aim because only God has the power to accomplish this!  I must take personally the call the embrace my own sanctification--not to lament the lack of sanctification in others or "the church."  I am grateful God uses people to help us in our sanctification, and He graciously uses us to aid others too.  It is more blessed to give than to receive, but we must submit to both to grow in spiritual health and fruitfulness.

Praise the LORD!

Words fail to describe how awesome and praiseworthy God is.  He stands apart and alone from all that is created in power, righteousness, and love.  David mused in Psalm 8:1-4: "O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! ² Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. ³ When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, ⁴ what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"  The inescapable irony is man who God graciously created in His image is often not mindful of God.

Even when we think of God, our deepest considerations of Him are shallow and short-sighted.  This is to be expected because we are beings with limited intellects bound by times and measurements.  God is better than we can conceive and we can crown Him "the best" but this extends into a realm we cannot fully see or know.  Superlatives and adjectives fail to adequately describe the greatness of God because He transcends language and eternity.  At the same time He is able to reveal Himself to us mere mortals who are but dust and ashes, unworthy and unable to look upon Him in glory without out being physically undone.  While we were yet sinners God demonstrated His love for us in sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die in our place.  Wondrous grace this!

The apostle wrote concerning the glorious future of God's redeemed in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  When we are ushered glorified in the presence of the Living God, I imagine words will fail us.  The living creatures in the presence of God are described as night an day proclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy!"  Holy carries with it the sense of being sacred and pure.  From a worldly vantage point God is something completely apart from all that has been created, distinct from the restraints of time and pollution of sin--a Being of unapproachable majesty.  Yet this is God who has set His favour upon sinful mankind, bestowing love and acceptance with the promise of everlasting life in His presence:  He desires, invites, and makes it possible for you and me to dwell with Him forever!

Praise the LORD for His greatness, goodness, and love.  Bless His holy name!  Psalm 68:32-35 says, "Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah ³³ to Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old! Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice. ³⁴ Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds. ³⁵ O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!"  David couldn't make it through a sentence about God's great worthiness without a "Selah" which is a directive to pause and consider.  How good it is to praise the LORD and worship our awesome God.

Agenda and Motive

I was looking for a C.S. Lewis quote I mentioned in a previous blog post and on the first page of Google results there was a blogger who wrote an expose on the occult agenda of C.S. Lewis in his Narnia books.  The internet is rife with this sort of thing, people who claim to have discovered a "hidden agenda" which may or may not be true.

As I thought this claim to knowledge over, it occurred to me that "having an agenda" often directly corresponds with personal motive.  Because we cannot perfectly know the hearts of men making absolute claims about the motives of others is dicey at best.  Take for instance in western culture the marriage of people who are vastly different in age:  a young woman marrying an older wealthy man could be viewed by some as a gold-digger or some might call the old man a pervert.  But the reality is the couple could very much be in love, regardless of what is common practice in society or our judgments based on appearances and limited knowledge.  Even when we have heard two sides on a matter we haven't heard the whole story.

God is the only One who perfectly knoww the hearts and thoughts of men, something Jesus demonstrated on a regular basis in the Gospels.  Jeremiah 17:5-10 says, "Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. ⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. ⁷ "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. ⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river,and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. ⁹ "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? ¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."  Walking according to sight has many pitfalls, but trusting the LORD keeps us from anxious thoughts and makes us fruitful.  Our heart is naturally deceitful:  if we cannot know the depravity and hidden agenda of our own hearts, how can we be sure we know the motives of others?

Now there are ways hidden motives of the hearts can be revealed by the things we say and do.  But let us examine our own hearts because we are quick to assume we know the motives of others:  quick assumptions and judgments we make say more about us than others.  We are to guard our hearts, to examine our motives, to weigh our feelings and thoughts against the straight-edge of scripture to ensure we are aligned righteously with God and our fellow men.  A heart regenerated and illuminated by God may not be more discerning of others but sees the need for personal repentance and reformation as David in Psalm 51:10-12:  "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."  There is much which may concern us about others, but in our praying let us draw near the LORD for our own sakes in desperate need for revival, renewal, and restoration.