“Remember the gospel again; hear his humble plea in the garden, see his blood-stained brow, hear the whip crack as it tears his back, smell the scent of blood that fills the air as he is hoisted up upon the tree, hear him cry in agony as the wrath you deserve is poured out upon him, and he is forsaken.
Then let his words sink deeply into your soul, “It is finished.” All that he had come to do, all that you needed him to do, he has done for you.
Feel the earth tremble, hear the curtain that separated you from the presence of God tear.
Think about that kind of love and welcome, let your heart weep before him, and kiss him in worship as you humble yourself, loving him much.
Now, let the love that’s overflowing in your heart eventuate in true obedience, put off your old, dead, loveless ways of living, and let the love that has been poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit create true holiness of life.”
(from Counsel from the Cross, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson)
I think sometimes that I’m too much of an optimist.
It’s true. I bounce. I love the beauty of the sky. I have experienced such blessings.
Beautiful creation... soiled, polluted
But I also tend to think that people are innately ok. Especially Christians, with the new creation, the new covenant.
And so I speed over the sea of sin that we swim in. Really. Sin is real. Sin is horrific. Husbands, wives, parents, kids, work relationships… fallen. We experience pain – not just physical pain, but the pain of disappointment, of spiritual hurt and loss.
The very best Christians I know, pastors, servants… flawed.
Perhaps a more realistic view of my world – less unreal optimism, more recognition of sin – actually leads to a more worshipful relationship with my God.
That’s because reality is that sin does hang on. The life-and-godliness-power that I’ve been given is a knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is to say, of the gospel (2 Peter 1:3).
And the knowledge of Christ is incredibly freeing because it stands is such stark contrast with my experiential knowledge of me and of other people.
Think on this, from Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson, in Counsel from the Cross:
“Either we train ourselves and others to put our trust in our ability and then hope for the best, or we train ourselves and others to self-despair and to live ‘on in naked confidence in the mercy of God.’ We will view God as either the “rewarder of all our ‘good’ works, the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow of merit,” or as our merciful Father who inexplicably identifies with us, loves and welcomes us, and rewards us with blessing despite our sin and failures…
The point is precisely that the power to do good comes only out of this wild claim that everything has already been done.” (pp. 180-1)
I need to stop, again, and not put my trust in my ability… but instead wholly trust Jesus Christ.
The gospel is that Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, has “freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:6) even when I don’t exhibit it, nor feel freed.
The gospel is that Jesus has ransomed people for God with his blood, at great cost. His blood is the grounds for my acceptance, not my moral fiber. And it continues to be the grounds… all through life.
The Bible actually says this in wonderful ways.
Let’s just take one, 1 Corinthians 6:11. Speaking of our sin, Paul writes:
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
It isn’t that we became more moral, or had some extra individual goodness. It is that we were washed, and sanctified, and justified by Jesus.
Washing in 1 Corinthians 6:11 (as in other verses, like Titus 3:5) doesn’t refer to moral amendment or inward holiness but to deliverance from guilt, and the estrangement from God which sin has caused. These passages, as George Smeaton in his excellent book on the atonement notes, “are rightly explained only when we take them in their sacrificial reference.”
My sin has been atoned for, regarded as if it had never been. It is my Savior’s bloody death which makes me clean… not my post-salvation perfection or moral aptitude.
I can still experience sin and the effects of sin, and I still struggle with sin… but I know it is covered… and the grateful fruit of worship and service grows.
That fruit may mean that I struggle less… but even when I fall, I know that my standing is sure, because it is not based on my struggle, but on the blood of Jesus Christ. By faith I am saved, and even that a gift.
We have such great reason to be optimists… not because we will not experience pain, disappointment, and sin… but because we know our standing is sure, and our Savior has removed our guilt, and we have a glorious future in Him.
Truly he has saved us according to his own mercy… praise be to Jesus Christ forever!
