I recently posted this as a note on my facebook under the title "My Story". I believe it captures my testimony perfectly- even as accurately as if I were to quote Ephesians 2. I simply cannot get through reading it without being deeply affected.
However, some have disagreed with it. And actually a debate had ensued in the comment sections of what I thought was going to be a harmless if not encouraging note! Please share you thoughts after reading it. I hope this is not as heretical as some have taken it to be. But perhaps it is I who is under the cruel deceitfulness of sin on this one!
In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career:
I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.
Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look:
It seemed to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke:
My conscience felt and owned the guilt,
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt,
And helped to nail Him there.
Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain!
--A second look He gave, which said,
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou mayest live."
Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I killed!
8 comments:
What was the debate about and who was it with? Believers or unbelievers?
If unbelievers, I can see why they would have issue with it. The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And every man thinks they are good, not sinful.
If it was believers I can see where some might pick it apart. They might object and say, "It was the Father who killed Christ, not us." Obviously, Christ died for our sins, but they may not like the wording of some of those lines. Kind of like Stuart Townends songs that says, "It was my sin that held Him there." Some didn't like that line because they argued, rightfully so, that it was God's wrath and God's love that held him there. But we understand what the song is saying, that yes, it some sense it was our sin that held Christ to the cross. And it some sense, we did "kill" Christ because we were friends with the world prior to God's conversion of our soul.
I am guessing that if I had been there that day Jesus was crucified, I myself, would have been yelling "Crucify Him!" too...or I would have abandoned Him for fear of my life. For we are all God-haters until the Lord regenerates us and puts a new heart in us.
There should be mention of His Resurrection
I'm sorry for my previous comment. My response in defense for the song posted by Brent was sarcastic and unhelpful.
Mr. Bircsac, thank you for your thoughts.
And thank you to my cousin who called me out in love.
I read your other comment and thought it was fine! I'm just trying to figure out what the "debate" was about the song...??
Darrell,
I think Brent mentioned that it had something to do with Arminianism vs. Calvinism. But I don't remember exactly what.
My apologies guys. I probably should have prefaced the nature of the debate that ensued. If you guys are facebook friends with me, the note is there for you to see. The last individual who commented was the person who instigated the little discussion that took place. After I deleted his rather snide comments, he commented again and I left that comment on there. So you can read it. It basically sums up the kind of guy I was dealing with.
The nature of the disagreement is twofold. One, it is simply not right for us to blame ourselves for Christ's death, for he did it on his own accord. It was a free gift- we did not put Christ on the cross. He died for our sins but not because of them. This view looks at my note and thinks that I wrote it to purely provoke an emotive response as opposed to an intellectual one.
The other point of discussion is over the distinct emphasis of the cross void of any other aspect of the Christ's work. Darrell hit on this point. Should the resurrection have been mentioned? Some see the cross as too magnified and the resurrection as too minimized. They simply see the gospel being not centered on the cross but all points deserving equal emphasis, if not the resurrection receiving more.
These are the main reasons why some would see my note as disagreeable. In any case, it is funny to see how people respond different to it when I make it sound as if I wrote it. When I reveal that John Newton, the same author of "Amazing Grace", wrote this little piece, a lot of the people don't analyze it with the same degree of skepticism. Hmmmm I wonder why...
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