If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (Jam. 1:5)The Bible is full of God's promises. There are promises of wrath against unbelieving disobedience (Deut. 11:16-17), and there are promises of great blessing for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28). The amazing thing about the latter group of promises is that they are not based on personal merit or works (Eph. 2:8-9). Unfortunately it is easy to forget this. James goes on to define what a true request is in the verses following.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (Jam. 1:6-8)
I used to think that these verses referred to someone who was so self absorbed that they only wanted wisdom from God in order to help them get ahead in life. It is true that these verses encompass that type of person; one who is vain and cares more about what God can give them, then what they can do to glorify God. However, there is another type of person here who is equally as self absorbed. I refer to the person who asks without believing that God can fulfil His promise because of their sin. I refer to what I have only just now realized that I have become.
It can be a great temptation of ours to focus on our own sin and wretchedness, and assume that God's grace is not sufficient to cover our transgressions. It is true that our sin is great, but it is also irrelevant. It is true that we are undeserving of God's grace and mercy, but equally as irrelevant. This is a sin of self-righteousness under the guise of humility.
My sin cannot, and will not ever outweigh the infinite Grace that was poured out on Calvary the day that Jesus was crucified. If I have truly been born again, then the price for the promises of God have already been paid for and I have but to ask faithfully to recieve them (John 16:24). Even times of chastisement from God for disobedience are a promise of blessing to Christians (Heb. 12:3-17).
Father God, grant us the wisdom to see you as we should see you. Do not allow us to regard our own hand mightier than yours, or our sin greater than your Grace. Create in us a single mind in our walk with you, focusing on the greatest promise of all that was secured for us by your son Jesus Christ.
3 comments:
...but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more...Romans 5:20.
Josh can you elaborate how you made the connection that the sin is a sin of self-righteousness? I definitely see the self-focus/pride in it. Are you making self-righteousness synonomous with pride or is there more at work here that you have discerned?
I definitely meant to emphasize the self-righteousness of the sin. I say this only because I have experienced it firsthand. Here is my line of thinking. Obviously pride and self-centered thinking are at the root of self-righteousness. However, self-pity and self-loathing do not necessarily connotate an attitude of self-righteousness. So what is the difference here? As Christians we are to be humble and acknowledge our sinfulness before God. To do so is the beginning of repentance, but it is done in order that we might be free of our sin, not held back by it.
Humility as it pertains to Christians is the view that we are less than God in every way. So, when we go before the Lord in self-pity, clinging to our sin, we are really going before Him in pride, not humility. We may have convinced ourselves that we are being humble, and therefore behaving righteously, but in essence we are establishing our sin as having a kind of worth that is greater than the worth of Christ. We may give lip service to the worthlessness of our sin before God, but by clinging to the memory of my sin instead of accepting the promise of God's forgiveness and moving on, I have placed myself in a position that denies the absolute power Christ has over that sin. If we truly believed it to be worthless, then we would confess ourselves before men and God (Jam. 5:16), accept the forgiveness of the Lord that has already been paid for, and leave that which is worthless behind. This is true repentance.
In short, to cling to the memory of sin under the guise of humility is pride. You may think that because you are groveling before the Lord that you are better than a Pharisee, but you are wrong. The Pharisee is a leper who believes he is not sick because he follows the law. By clinging to the memory of sin before God, you are a leper who has been healed, but still goes before the healer crying “Unclean! Unclean!”
Josh, this reminds me of something Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote in his Spiritual Depression (a book a highly recommend to anyone). He says this:
"To make it quite practical let me say that there is a very simple way of testing yourself to know whether you believe [the Gospel].... I have explained the way of justification by faith and told them how it is all in Christ, and that God puts His righteousness upon us. I have explained it all to them, and then I have said: 'Well, now are you quite happy about it, do you believe that?' And they say, 'Yes'. Then I say: 'Well, then, you are now ready to say that you are a Christian'. And they hesitate. And I know they have not understood. Then I say: 'What is the matter, why are you hesitating?' And they say: 'I do not feel that I am good enough'. They are still thinking in terms of themselves; their idea still that they have to make themselves good enough to be a Christian, good enough to be accepted with Christ. They have to do it! 'I am not good enough.' It sounds very modest, but it is the lie of the devil, it is a denial of the faith. You think that you are eing humble. But you will never be good enough; nobody has ever been good enough. The essence of the Christian salvation is to say that He is good enough. The essence of the Christian salvation is to say that He is good enough and that I am in Him!
"As long as you go on thinking about yourself and saying, 'Ah, yes, I would like to, but I am not good enough; I am a sinner, a great sinner,' you are denying God and you will never be happy. You will continue to be cast down and disquieted inn your soul. You will think you are better at times and then again you will find that you are not as good as you thought you were. You read the lives of the saints and you realize that you are nowhere. So you keep on asking: 'What can I do? I still feel that I am not good enough.' Forget yourself, forget all about yourself. Of course you are not good enough, you never will be good enough. The Christian way of salvation tells you this, that it does not matter what you have been, it doesn't matter what you have done. How can I put this plainly?... It does not matter if you have almost entered into the depths of hell, if you are guilty of murder as well as every other vile sin, it does not matter from the stand point of being justified with God. You are no more hopeless than the most respectable self-righteous person in the world."
Obviously, Lloyd-Jones is speaking of a slightly different subject that you are, but his point is the same. The Gospel takes away pride and it takes away self-doubt, self-pity, etc. Let's put it this way: The Gospel doesn't make you feel more of yourself or less of yourself, it makes you think of yourself less.
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