For IF God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
IF he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
IF by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
and IF he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
THEN the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,… (–2 Peter 2:4-9a)
Okay…but what about when I’m ungodly? What then? When ’something’s wrong’, is He still able to rescue me? What about when my sin overwhelms?
David felt encumbered by the weight of his sin, as evident in Psalm 38:
there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me” (vs. 3b-4).
I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart (vs. 8).
But what does he do? He shares his longing with God; He understands his “sighing is not hidden from” Him (vs. 9). He waits for God and trusts that He will answer (vs. 15). He confesses his sin (vs. 18). He pleas with God not to forsake him, to not be far, to make haste to help (vs. 21-22). He recognizes that God is his salvation (vs. 22).
I, too, should reflect upon salvation, which resurrects deadened hearts:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trepasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- (Eph. 2:4-5)
There must be a relationship between remembering His forgiveness and having the qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love as 2 Peter 1:5-9 reveals some connection between forgetting His forgiveness and lacking these qualities.
If God exists, and His word is true, and if His hand has been involved in the formation of the world and the resurrection of Christ, then surely has the power to transform my heart.
God, please remind me of Your forgiveness and reveal its power in me. Please crucify my flesh and let your life in me shine through. Please grow your love and related qualities exemplifying Your love in me. Thank you…
photo by willandbeth
Filed under: Gospel
I also believe, as we meditate on God’s forgiveness, complete, washing us, moment by moment, that it is then when the Holy Spirit works in us. “Christ came for sinners”. He works in the sinner. The one who knows his own sin and is powerless to overcome it on his own. He did not die for the “righteous”. We can breathe His forgiveness in deeply, and with that, know that His Spirit THEN works in us both to change our will and to work. Wait quietly, and you will see.