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Spiritually Bankrupt
"Salvation is a free gift, but an empty hand must receive it, and not a hand which still tightly grasps the world!" - A.W. Pink, http://bit.ly/drXWnO
Today's reading in "Voices from the Past" devotional read, "many souls do not only perish praying, repenting and believing after a sort, but they perish by their praying and repenting while they carnally trust in these. If we are to be saved, we must come naked to Christ in regard to our duties; we cannot flee to Christ in truth while trusting in them. Some are so locked into them, that they cannot come without them, and so in the day of temptation are trampled under the foot of God's wrath and Satan's fury." - Gurnall, Voices from the Past pg. 115
“The Law is for the proud and the Gospel for the brokenhearted.†- Martin Luther
IN the preaching of the Law, the conviction brought by the Holy Spirit works in you inwardly to make you aware of your woeful state -- that you are utterly without a question undone and all that you need spiritually is beyond yourself, to be found in Christ alone (Gospel).
Comments
Everything in this world and in us cries out to claim we have something to give God! We beg, he receive us for all our own goodness, even as true victims of an evil world and Satan himself. Oh, how our parents did all the wrong things and now we suffer their sins, our hearts cry out in order to be acceptable to God without fault or guilt.
But, God could not leave me in this desperate place of self righteousness and self pity by the evils of others and even Satan, for he so loved what his hand had done in all his creation. So He brought me so low to see my own filth and sin apart from any around me whose injustices were ever so great to show me mine! He broke the link of all my justified excuses to blame another, though most evil and vile, he showed me the vileness of my own nature and sin so to be exalted by others evil. He leaves me unrecoverable except that Jesus be seen in my heart/minds eye so to have him be my righteousness, my defender and my savior and my Lord, the son of God.
Oh, if there be any other way, I have failed in every way they tell me to be as them and so would never gain heaven as they so claim in pride of good works and self righteousness, for I would die in my sin without any! Yes, Jesus has to be my savior and none other! No, not any other can take his place! No other way, no other hope but that man lean upon their own good works and righteousness in the false peace of their pride before themselves and mere mortal man!
Thank God for this site, these truths, this hope, this great army of Saints who brave the truth of the sinfulness of mans sin! How dreadful it is to see and how great is unbelief to relieve us from the sight of its ugliness! But God is merciful to all who would but come empty handed filled with only their sin - the product of humbleness and a broken spirit! Thank you people so much for your faithfulness to the gospel!
Posted by: Bruce Potter | April 25, 2010 02:12 PM
Thank you Bruce for that April 10 post. Every day I live I'm thinking those same thoughts. I'm looking forward to the day when I can live by sight and not by faith.
Posted by: John | April 28, 2010 01:16 PM
Thank you I really needed to hear this. Its revealing and correcting.
Posted by: Tom | April 29, 2010 06:59 AM