Sunday, October 13, 2019

Our hurts, habits and hang ups (III) Conviction is an invitation, not condemnation

There is a kind of catch 22 about the gospel. When we have believed lies about God especially that He is out to get us, then we don’t know that there is a cure for sin sickness. And if we don’t know there's a cure, what else can we do but we try to cover it up and deny that it’s there, or at least that it’s serious?  To admit it, would be to open up a can of worms.  So we hide the truth, even from ourselves. It is helpful to see that there is a difference between conviction,  and condemnation. To condemn someone is to declare them to be reprehensible, and evil. And the  feelings of condemnation can be crushing. But God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but rather  that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). Conviction is different, though we are still made aware of our wrong doing, conviction is not a guilt trip, it has a purpose and comes with an invitation. Conviction is the Holy Spirit's job, not ours (John 16:18). And part of the problem is the self-righteous hypocritical attitudes  and guilt trips of some!

But coming back to conviction, I don’t know why it's so hard to admit it when we are wrong, but it seems to be. In fact from the beginning we tried to hide our sin (see “Where are you Adam” 22 January). However “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). When Adam and Eve sinned God cursed the earth "for our sake" (see 25 January), that is He put into motion the spiritual law that bad choices produce bad fruit. And the “for our sake” curse, is about His desire that we be drawn to Him through the consequence of our own and others sin.  When we become sick and tired of being sick and tired of it all, we can start to see the relevance of the Spirit's invitation to “come ..… let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

As regards to  the nature of this invitation, Jesus tells us “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30). Father God likewise invites “Come let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). We do of course need to repent, but when  “we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And when we do this and receive Jesus, we become His children (John 1:12), and from that point on “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1).

Father, I want to thank You this morning that You cursed the earth for our sake. I know that it was the consequences of my own and others sins,  that made me desperate enough to try “even God” as I thought about it then. Thank You for Your invitation to taste and see that You are good (Psalm 34:8). Indeed Your are Lord, You are good all the time, and all the time You are good in Jesus Name Amen

No comments:

Post a Comment