Grace abounds...

(Romans 5:20) “…but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”

I am tempted once again in the early hours of this morning to look to tear myself to pieces as there is much tearing to do. But I will not do the Lord any more injustice concerning His perfect work on Calvary. This morning I would like to consider just how great an achievement it was for the Lord Jesus to lay down His life knowingly for people like me. It is not as if He determined to lay down His own life with this thought in mind; (once a sinner has repented and believe on my finished work, I will have his continuous loyalty, he will never sin again). I know I have failed you Lord on numerous occasions and sadly I am under no illusions, I will continue to disappoint myself as well as others regarding my commitment to this continuous struggle against this my “body of death”. Does that mean I will throw in the towel and cry, “no more Father”? I may well cry out for your grace, O how I need your grace, but now to say I will now retire, what would be the point? Life and all its lessons a complete waste of time!

I am sorry Father that I have not been the person I wanted to be with regard to your call upon my life, but I must conclude you knew that from the beginning and yet you willingly sent your Son to die for me, for this I will be forever thankful. You are a glorious Saviour Lord Jesus, to suffer “once and for all” to the degree you were called to suffer and yet without sin, with this understanding that those who found the Father’s grace would continuously sin for what you died to destroy is mind-boggling. And yet you still agreed to do it, Praise, Honour and Glory belongs to none other than our great Lord and King, All Hail King Jesus!

Just think back on our lives and it will soon be obvious who has kept us. Yes it is about many Wilderness experience, it is about finding our pallets parched and experiencing water gushing forth from the Rock. It is about those times when we knew what we were about to do was wrong and yet we did it anyway, as our conscience pricked away at us. Just that in itself an indicator that God is for us and not against us. These are just some of the things the Lord has had to deal with after saving so many sinners. I remember the early days were I was convinced that I would never fall in those areas I once fell. But God gives more grace, praise His name!

Remember wherever you find yourself do not, I say do not withdraw from fellowship. We must guard our hearts against this evil. A sick person require a doctor not one who is well and so when we are struggling we need the encouragement of our brethren. This is the ointment used to heal the wounds. God has so purposed it! It is His design!

Here is part of an email I receive by a concerned brother and I quote:-

Morning my brother,

What I'm writing here is not a new truth but one which we cannot see at times because of the pain of sin.

When a saint sins, no matter what the sin, the consequences are always severe - The amazing thing is, that we often seem to grade sin according to some yardstick which we do not find in scripture. This leads the saint to believe that some sin is not as bad as some "very bad sin". This leads us to erroneously believe two things:

1. That if we do not commit a "very bad sin" that we are more acceptable to God and the Church and we are therefore fooled into believing that we do not need to grieve "that much" over our sin and we never experience Psalm 51, because "we do not need to". Fooled into believing that we are not that sinful - the Pharisee and the Tax collector repeated all over again - we never see the "Pharisee heart" within ourselves. Pride tells us that we do not need to grieve over our sin and experience the reality of a broken and contrite heart.

2. On the other hand, when we do commit a "very bad sin", we have been conditioned by the unscriptural yardstick to believe and behave contrary to scripture. The lessons taught in the parable of the prodigal son are forgotten and we err. Yes it is true that God hates sin, it is true that God judges sin, it is true that God disciplines the sinner, it is true that sin strains the sweet communion we have with God - sin is a dreadful enemy to the soul.

We err because in the midst of losing the joy of our salvation, experiencing the crushing and bruising of our bones, being made aware of the wretchedness of the condition of our hearts from conception, the ever pressing awareness that God desires truth in the innermost part of our being, our ever present awareness that we need to be washed and a longing not only to be cleansed, but for the sin to be blotted out where the very presence of its stench is removed and that God will give us His strength to live a Holy life pleasing to Him - we err because we listen to the wrong voices.

The worst voice we can listen to is our own - when we've been exposed to the "yardstick of sin" and when we have sinned a "very bad sin" - that voice rises up and while it may sound "right", it can be very destructive. When we speak that voice, we speak words which the prodigal son spoke. Not worthy to be called a son - I am willing to be a servant - I am willing to forfeit all the privileges of being Your child. Perhaps we do need to hear these words during the process of our hearts being broken and we experience contrition deep within our souls - but there is a better voice.

God has graciously taught me that He hates "all sin" and that no sin is acceptable to Him - my spirit remains grieved for my assuming that my lesser sins, which were not frowned upon by my hardened conscience, were acceptable to God because they were accepted by both myself and my kinsman.

Hear His voice my brother and enjoy the ring, the robe, the fattened calf and the re-instatement - don't resist Him while reaching out to you - worship Him by accepting His lifting you up onto His shoulders and restoring you.

The pain is deep and it is severe - but God in mercy and grace does minister to that pain - don't resist him in your state of "unworthiness".

Do you see the sweet ointment of fellowship addressing the wounds, I am thankful for those who would take the time out to minister to me at a stint like this. Our God and Father is concerned more than we could ever imagine about His struggling children’s well-being. He is for us and not against us even if we at times make some treacherous decisions and let no one tell you otherwise. Why else would He have sent His Son to die such a cruel death, for the strong only, never! It is the weak He is concerned about, praise His name!

Signing off

Tyrone