blhowes
Puritan Board Professor
There's something I've been thinking about for a while, but have had trouble putting into words. In a way its about fearing God and in a way its about our attitude towards grace, mercy, and forgiveness. And in a way its about wondering if living on this side of the cross can make us complacent.
In the OT, there are wonderful stories that show the gulf that exists between a Holy God and sinful man. I think of Moses at the burning bush:
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
and stories about men pleading for forgiveness:
Dan 9:16-19 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
In the NT, we read:
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Praise the Lord that because of Jesus we can have blessed communion with God. We can come before his very presence.
Sometimes I wonder though, living on this side of the cross, if we (I) take these things for granted.
Because of Jesus, we can come boldly unto the throne of grace. As we come boldly, do we lose sight of the attitude of Moses and the burning bush?
Because of Jesus, we know that all of our sins are forgiven and nailed to the cross. But do we really ask for forgiveness, or do we just go through the motions, knowing that our sins are forgiven.
Because of Jesus, we know that we can come boldly unto the throne of grace and obtain mercy. But since we know that God has shown mercy on us through Jesus, do we really ever go to the throne seeking for mercy? Sometimes it seems like there's the attitude that we only need to seek mercy when we first get saved. After that, we're "covered".
I started thinking about this for two reasons. The first reason was just because of my daily Bible reading. In reading through the OT, it struck me that the attitude toward God seemed to be deeper and more respectful then than it is at times now. For them, there was the very real danger that they had offended a Holy God and they needed to "plead forgiveness for their lives". We don't have to worry about it because of Jesus, but it just seems like its taken for granted sometimes.
The second reason is because of how sin, mercy, and forgiveness seems to be so watered down in much of Christianity. When "leading somebody to Christ", it seems that its thought enough for people to just have an intellectual understanding that they are sinners. Romans 3:23 is quoted and then the person might be asked "The Bible says that all have sinned. Have you ever lied or stolen a cookie out of the cookie jar when you were little?..."Yes"... Good, you understand that all have sinned and that you are a sinner. Now lets more on to the next point..."
Maybe its just me, but I was wondering if anybody else ever feels this way?
Bob
In the OT, there are wonderful stories that show the gulf that exists between a Holy God and sinful man. I think of Moses at the burning bush:
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
and stories about men pleading for forgiveness:
Dan 9:16-19 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
In the NT, we read:
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Praise the Lord that because of Jesus we can have blessed communion with God. We can come before his very presence.
Sometimes I wonder though, living on this side of the cross, if we (I) take these things for granted.
Because of Jesus, we can come boldly unto the throne of grace. As we come boldly, do we lose sight of the attitude of Moses and the burning bush?
Because of Jesus, we know that all of our sins are forgiven and nailed to the cross. But do we really ask for forgiveness, or do we just go through the motions, knowing that our sins are forgiven.
Because of Jesus, we know that we can come boldly unto the throne of grace and obtain mercy. But since we know that God has shown mercy on us through Jesus, do we really ever go to the throne seeking for mercy? Sometimes it seems like there's the attitude that we only need to seek mercy when we first get saved. After that, we're "covered".
I started thinking about this for two reasons. The first reason was just because of my daily Bible reading. In reading through the OT, it struck me that the attitude toward God seemed to be deeper and more respectful then than it is at times now. For them, there was the very real danger that they had offended a Holy God and they needed to "plead forgiveness for their lives". We don't have to worry about it because of Jesus, but it just seems like its taken for granted sometimes.
The second reason is because of how sin, mercy, and forgiveness seems to be so watered down in much of Christianity. When "leading somebody to Christ", it seems that its thought enough for people to just have an intellectual understanding that they are sinners. Romans 3:23 is quoted and then the person might be asked "The Bible says that all have sinned. Have you ever lied or stolen a cookie out of the cookie jar when you were little?..."Yes"... Good, you understand that all have sinned and that you are a sinner. Now lets more on to the next point..."
Maybe its just me, but I was wondering if anybody else ever feels this way?
Bob
Come Boldly yet Humbly! I agree I think at times we have a very flippant attitude in our time of private worship at least I have been convicted of this on many occasions. We have an open invitation into the presence of THE ALMIGHTY, we should be very cognizent of whom we are in the presence of.
