"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." - Luke 5:32
"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." - II Timothy 1:9
For some Christians, grace is a wonderfully simple concept to grasp and apply. They accept the substitutionary atonement of Christ and go on to live lives that are characterized by joy in their new-found identities in the Lord, confident that they are "a new creature" and "old things have passed away, all things have become new" (II Corinthians 5:17). They have failures in their Christian walk, but they move on quickly, not permitting these failures to hinder them.
For others, however--and particularly for those given to introspection--the matter is not quite so simple. The beginning of their new birth experience may indeed be a joyous time for them, but as they learn more of the Word, come to follow Christ more closely, and reflect on the character of God, the remaining darkness within them becomes more evident, even frightening and intimidating. In their struggles with the world, the flesh, and the devil, they come to truly appreciate what is meant when the scriptures declare that God dwells in "unapproachable light" (I Timothy 6:16) and is one in whom "there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).
For such as these, every failure and character flaw can seem like an indicator of absolute unworthiness and wretchedness, bringing about a continual sense of shame and futility. They feel as if they'll never "get it right," never be pleasing to the Lord, never be able to live the Christian life as it is meant to be lived and as the heroes of the faith lived. They know who they were when Christ found them, and just how ugly they can be. They have a keen recollection of their personal history of sin, and can lay hold of it to produce an example of their wretchedness at a moment's notice. Although they might be hesitant to admit it, on some level they suspect that, rather than loving them, God merely tolerates them, and that He is keeping a detailed list of their failures in order to throw the book at them on Judgment Day. For these, the Christian walk is something akin to torture, a long walk on what they fear is surely Death Row. The ever-observant enemy then seizes on these feelings and uses them to keep such believers bound in a perpetual gloom of condemnation and despair.
If you find yourself in this latter camp, I would like to encourage you with a few thoughts, which, if you take hold of them, can be transformative for you, as they proving to be in my own life.
Before you were born, God knew you (Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). He knew the very worst about you, all of the ugliness that you are capable of and all of the evil you would ever commit. There is no darkness in you that He did not see from the very beginning (Psalm 139:12, Hebrews 4:13). Yet, He loved you (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:1-10). When you came to Him, He washed you with His own Son's blood, the most precious substance there is, and He did not purchase you at such great cost in order to rub your nose in your sins or to throw you away (Matthew 26:27-28, Revelation 1:5-6). His plan is to bring you to glory, to make you like the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29, Hebrews 2:10). Yes, He will convict you of sin, not to condemn, belittle, or discourage you, but to help you overcome it (Hebrews 12:11-13). When you fail, you do not shock God. You're not presenting Him with something He didn't anticipate. It's not like He sits back and says to Himself, "Wow, what a loser. I didn't see that coming." Give the Almighty a little more credit than that. He knew what He was getting into when He touched you and said, "Follow Me" - and He still did it. When He shines the light of His Word and His Spirit on something dark in you, it's not because He wasn't aware of it. He knew it was there all along; He simply wants to bring it to your attention so that you can deal with it in the confidence of 1 John 1:9 - that if you acknowledge your sin to Him, He is "faithful and just to forgive...and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Yes, He knew you--everything about you--before you knew Him, and He still drew you to Himself. He is not your enemy. Don't turn away from Him; turn *to* Him, confident of His favor toward you in Christ. Don't be afraid of the Lord's correction, for it comes to build you up. So let conviction come, and strive to do better with the Holy Spirit's guidance (I Peter 1:1-10). And during those times when you feel accusation, shame, and condemnation coming down upon you, remember that these do not come from your Father, who only seeks to build you up in love, but from the enemy who seeks to tear you down (I Peter 5:6-10, Revelation 12:10). Pay heed to conviction, but not to condemnation. Rest securely in the Father's love for you.
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:15-16
The following is an excellent message on this topic by the late Derek Prince:
* All scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible
