the godly man's picture regarding sin

There is a book I have been reading called "The Godly Man's Picture". It is part of the Puritan Paperbacks written by Thomas Watson. Anyways, it goes through different characteristics which are evident in godly individuals. I wanted to share a little excerpt discussing the confession of sin.

"...a child of God will confess sin in particular. An unsound Christian will confess sin wholesale, he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David does, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: 'I have done this evil' (Psa. 51:4). He does not say, 'I have done evil', but 'this evil'. He points at his blood guiltiness."

Let us not come before the Lord's throne and be vague and general about any sin in our lives nor with a "let me rush through this prayer" kind of attitude. May we constantly come before the Lord in prayer and be raw and real with Him in regards to our sin and be thankful and praise Him for His forgiveness.

“Repentance has nothing to do with what man has done. Rather it is man’s coming undone in respect to all human righteousness, followed by his going outside himself in faith to Christ alone for salvation.”
-C. John Miller

the cost

Luke 9:23-24

"And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it."

" Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee. Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be. Perish every fond ambition, All I’ve sought or hoped or known. Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own."


"Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken" (1st verse)
Henry Lyte. (1793-1847)

effectual grace?

In my last post on grace, i compared grace to a battery. Now, there actually are many that would disagree with me.
There are many who believe that God's grace is the saving gift of Christ's work on the cross, and if we accept that gift, then we have partaken of grace. However, they would argue that grace is not actually "effectual". In other words, that grace doesn't "cause" anything. They may say that God "helps" people, but they wouldn't agree that God's grace "causes" people to do anything.

There are a couple of terms that we use often to describe "effectual" grace.

1. Regeneration - The supernatural work of God's grace that causes us to repent and believe. (2 Timothy 2:25 - God grants repentence)So regeneration precedes belief, which means we aren't technically justified (saved) until we are regenerated. (Titus 3:5-6 - We are saved BY regeneration - this verse is SO clear because it not only distinguishes between the two [justification [declared not-guilty] and regeneration], but it also gives the order!)

(also Romans 8:30 - "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified") - the call precedes the justifying. This is really important because this verse also shows us that grace is irresistable. Those who he predestines HE WILL CALL. Those who he calls HE WILL JUSTIFY.

2. Sanctification - The supernatural work of God's grace that causes obedience. (John 17:17 -Jesus asks the Father to grant sanctification to his followers) (Philippians 1:6-7 - If God began a work in us then HE WILL COMPLETE IT) (Philippians 2:13 - It is God who causes us to desire to obey and causes us to obey)

NOW

with all that being said, I have always had trouble with Paul's closing statements in all of his epistles (except Romans). He always says, "grace be with you." It never really made sense because I used to take a take a different view of grace. But when you look at Paul's closing words with "effectual grace"-colored lenses, it makes complete sense.

Paul's closing sentences in the following letters:

1 Corinthians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you."

2 Corinthians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Galatians: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers, Amen"

Ephesians: "Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptable"

Philippians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."

Colossians: "Grace be with you."

1 Thessalonians: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."

2 Thessalonians: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."

1 Timothy: "Grace be with you."

2 Timothy: "Grace be with you."

Titus: "Grace be with you all."

Philemon: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."

Hebrews: "Grace be with all of you."

What kind of grace? The kind of grace that has the power to supernaturally transform people to deny sin, desire to do good, and obey.

bankrupt.

Matthew 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

This is the first Beatitude. The first sentence in the very first sermon taught by Jesus. It's not only very important, but it is also the first step.

Two things.

1. Blessed = Happy
2. Poor in Spirit = Spiritual Bankruptcy

The sooner we realize we are incapable of attaining the standard Christ calls us to (Matt. 5:48), the closer we are to finding the One who can help us attain that standard. That calls for humility. Jesus was saying, 'You can't be filled until you are empty.' You can't be worthwhile until you realize you are worthless apart from Christ."

"In the church today there is little emphasis on self- emptying. I've seen many books on how to be filled with joy and other things, but I don't think I've ever seen a book on how to empty yourself of self. Too much of contemporary Christianity feeds on pride. But a person without poverty of spirit fails to understand the grace of God and cannot be a Christian since salvation is by grace through faith. Also, the graces of the Christian life can't grow without humility."

-John MacArthur

sin. step2.

2 Corinthians 7:1 "Let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh."

Ephesians 4:22 "Laying aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit."

Romans 6:12 "Don't let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts."

1 Peter 2:1 "Lay aside all evil." Verse 11, "Abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul."

It's not enough to just ask God to reveal the sin that blinds us. It's not enough to say "I'm sorry God. Please forgive me."
There needs to be a genuine repentence. True repentence is a turning and rejection of sin.