“When He Has Come” 11-19-2010

November 19th, 2010 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

“When He Has Come”

November 19, 2010
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

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November 19, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

How is it that I am being transformed into Jesus when I do and say things that Jesus would never do or say? When is this great transformation taking place? How can I be certain that it will actually occur? If I am to judge my own failures, it is clear that I am not transformed yet. How long do I wait? When does the metamorphosis actually happen? How long can God tolerate me in my current condition?

And God says…”I cannot tolerate even one white lie told for the benefit of the other person. I cannot tolerate the wonderful things you do for me and others and recall proudly. I cannot tolerate your random acts of kindness spoken of casually so that others may know of your charity. And I cannot tolerate you noticing another’s failures and speaking of them to yourself and others. But I can and do tolerate, love and adore Jesus. And He is who I see when I look at you. And you can be certain that you are being transformed into Jesus because I have told you it is so”

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