O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God- through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)There's a piece of scripture from Psalm 13 that I've found myself chewing on a lot lately. The Lord has really used it to change me in regards to my relationship with Him. I wanted to share what it was because I really believe it is vital for Christians in today's church culture.
But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me (Psalm 13:5).The truth is this: I am Christian who longs to do good, but all too often gives into my fleshly desires and sins. That is who we all are. Sinners.
I would sin and feel an overwhelming weight of guilt and shame. God must be so ashamed of me. My face was downcast and my thoughts always carried me in the direction of wondering what I could do in order to be back on track with God and safe in His love once again. I had sinned and felt guilt and shame because of that sin, and so I believed the way to get rid of my shame would have to be to do something good. If I did good again, then God would be able to be pleased with me once again.
I was living in condemnation. And that is not of the Lord.
I was missing the truth of Gospel. That we are not saved by works but through faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).And as a Christian who believes in the work of Christ on the cross, I know I am not saved through my works, but I was living in a way that said I believed I was.
And here is where we get down to the nitty-gritty of my problem: I was not having faith in the Lord's unfailing love. That it is unwavering and constant. I felt that if I did something wrong, His love for me was not the same as it was when I was living blamelessly. But this isn't true. God's love for us does not change. It doesn't matter what you have done, His love remains greater still.
It is true that our sin separates us from God (Is 59:2), but it was Christ's sacrifice on the cross that removed that separation once and for all.
Conviction of sin is good. It leads us to repentance. It is truly a good thing to grieve your own sin. But let that grief lead you to the cross. Don't let your grief cause you to set your eyes on yourself and what you can do to fix the problem. We can't fix the problem, and that's why Christ died for us.
Let Christ be the one who changes your heart, and realize the infinite, unfailing, and life saving love of Jesus Christ.
But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me (Psalm 13:5).
