Last night, as I was preparing for bed and listening to the following song based largely on Psalm 116, I believe that the Holy Spirit illumined His word to me.
The repetition of the phrase, “Deliver me, deliver me, by your grace Lord I am saved,” stirred me deeply and I began to contemplate that only God can deliver me from my sins. I formerly knew only He could save me, but I apparently did not think that about sanctification; currently, my idol of self-reliance is going down in flames. (Continued below the video.)
As I continued to think about these things, a verse from Isaiah occurred to me, regarding Christ’s ministry.
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
As I thought about all the times I have been shown that I cannot obey God in my own strength (by falling into sin); and simultaneously heard many preachers exhorting surrender; yet continued to try to sanctify myself; I realized that the pillar of self-reliance I have usually leaned upon in my daily walk, is being turned to ashes by the Holy Spirit.
I heard the words “deliver me, deliver me; by your grace Lord I am saved” in a new light.
It is the only way open to pilgrims. The way of self-reliance does not lead to God, the way of self-denial does.
I read verse 3 and saw that I wasn’t feeling powerless like I had typically felt, regarding my former futility about walking in obedience mostly in my own strength; but was feeling glad because He had apparently given me a garment of praise and a compliant spirit, with the understanding that I must rely on Him in prayer to advance in my Christian walk.
All the above caused a sense of euphoria, or peace, or mercy?
As I basked in that I began to contemplate sin.
It occurred to me that a Christian could never experience what I just did if he is not being real about his sin: identifying it, owning it, confessing it to God, and mourning it; seeing the futility of being free of it without Christ, as in John 15:
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Or,
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
It seems absolutely essential that Christians own up to sin in their relationships with other humans and with God. Otherwise, their Christian life is not genuine and cannot progress. It is the life of a stillborn child.
Very frequently, when I ponder aspects of the Christian walk, I am brought back to this foundational realization, that dealing with sin is absolutely necessary even though it is painful, humbling….
Jesus made that clear in Matthew 5 when He described His kingdom citizens via the beatitudes.
Study Recommendations:
For supplemental information about this post, in this blog, see: Categories: Beatitude Life Posts; True Kingdom Citizen; Sin; John Owen; Jonathan Edwards; Calvin’s Institutes; Thomas Brooks.