Read Titus 3:3-8 or Ephesians 2:1-10 and then watch this video. And, by all means, if you’re in San Antonio and looking for a church, then check this one out.
HT: Z
3 thoughts on “We’re Not What We Were”
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We’re Not What We Were
“O’ to grace how great a debtor!”
Thanks for sharing this Chris.
I could not help but recall one of my favorite books and passages that speaks to the power of grace not only to save but to sanctify us. Allow me, if you please….
“Since becoming a Christian, you have become more and more aware of the sin in your life, and you are discouraged by it. But what discourages you, I see as a sign of life—not the sin itself, but the fact that you are discouraged by it. If you professed faith in Christ and it did not make any difference to your values, personal ethics, and goals, I would begin to wonder if your profession of faith in Christ was spurious (there are certainly instances of spurious faith in the Bible—for instance, John 2:23-25; 8:31ff.).
But if you have come to trust Christ, then growth in Him is always attended by deepening realization that you are not as good as you once thought you were, that the human heart is frighteningly deceptive and capable of astonishing depths of selfishness and evil. As you discover these things about yourself, the objective ground of your assurance must always remain unfalteringly the same: ‘if anybody does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One’ (1 John 2:1). Let your confidence rest fully in that simple and profound truth.
What you will discover with time is that although you are not as holy as you would like to be or as blameless as you should be, by God’s grace you are not what you were. You look back and regret things you have said and thought and done as a Christian; you are embarrassed perhaps by the things you failed to think and say and do. But you also look back and testify with gratitude that because of the grace of God in your life, you are not what you were. And thus, unobtrusively, the subjective grounds of assurance also lend their quiet support.”
(Letters Along the Way, Don Carson and John Woodbridge, p. 23)
Paul, that is a wonderful quote. That is also one of my favorite books. I have always been amazed that it didn’t receive more attention. Thanks for sharing that wonderful quote.
Thanks for the response, Chris. I, too, am surprised it did not have the readership it deserves. It is certainly on my top 10 for the best in solid discipleship!
Cheers!