Drinking, Smoking, and Dating Girls that do.
May I highly recommend this book!
J.C. Ryle, who I will be quoting frequently from his book Holiness in this post, states "Wrong views about holiness are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption." He continues "the plain truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity." What a wonderful statement. Too often we like to think of Christianity as a religion of people who have it all together. Ryle quickly quells this notion by directly connecting realization of sin to holiness.
At risk of messing up the message of a genius 19th century Theologian, I will attempt to expound. And from now on, I will simply italicize Ryle quotes instead of being grammatically correct. How are sin and holiness connected? Very simply, the more we grow in Christ as a Christian, the more sinful we realize we are. For example, when I was a Chistian as a teenager, my view of sin entailed drinking, smoking, dating girls that do, talking back to my parents, and cheering for Miss. State. So what kind of person was 14 year old Brian Sorgenfrei? An arrogant Christian who looked down on those who committed the sins on his checklist and wondered why they couldn't get it together. I mean if I can abstain, why can't you? (yea not much has changed in my pride...I know).
Then senior high and college came around. Thankfully as God worked through His Word in the avenues of RUF, church, and friends, I had a sober realization about myself. I am a whole lot more messed up than I ever thought. My pride, my looking down on others, my idolatry of others approval, etc. were exposed. I slowly began to realize shockingly enough that I didn't have it all together. My sin was simply more socially acceptable and less noticeable than other sins. However, by revealing more of my sin, God showed me I desperately needed the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe Ryle was unraveling this truth in a much more eloquent and deep way. For my part I am persuaded the more light we have, the more we see our own sinfulness: the nearer we get to heaven, the more we are clothed with humility. Our love of Christ directly relates to our realization of our own sinfulness. When we see just how gross and vast our sin is, we get a glimpse of just how high and deep is the love of Christ (Eph. 3:18). Terribly black must that guilt be for which nothing but the blood of the Son of God could make satisfaction. Heavy must that weight of human sin be which made Jesus groan and sweat drops of blood in agony at Gethsemane, and cry at Golgotha, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Dare I say that we should all be praying that God would show us our sin? A tough prayer indeed, because it means we begin to see just how vile and rebellious we are. But, only then do we see Christ's love magnified. I am so bad that the Son of God had to die for me. But I am so loved that the Son of God died for me and therefore nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God (Rom 9:39). This is what sends Christians into the world clothed in humility, yet with unwavering boldness.
It's a sad truth that most non-Christians think Christianity is simply a religion of "get your life in order and Jesus will like you." But maybe that is simply because that is what much of modern day Christianity has told people. As Ryle states "Dim or indistinct views of sin ar eth origin of most of the errors, heresies, and false doctrines of the present day. If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his sould's disease, you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies." When we've forgotten the depth and seriousness of sin, then a 3 step process of clean yourself up is good enough. All of us need to remind one another that Christians are messed up people that only come to the throne of God through Christ's righteousness for While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8). By the way, I don't consider cheering for Miss. State a sin anymore, however I wouldn't be surprised if it led to many sinful thoughts this past Saturday.
At risk of messing up the message of a genius 19th century Theologian, I will attempt to expound. And from now on, I will simply italicize Ryle quotes instead of being grammatically correct. How are sin and holiness connected? Very simply, the more we grow in Christ as a Christian, the more sinful we realize we are. For example, when I was a Chistian as a teenager, my view of sin entailed drinking, smoking, dating girls that do, talking back to my parents, and cheering for Miss. State. So what kind of person was 14 year old Brian Sorgenfrei? An arrogant Christian who looked down on those who committed the sins on his checklist and wondered why they couldn't get it together. I mean if I can abstain, why can't you? (yea not much has changed in my pride...I know).
Then senior high and college came around. Thankfully as God worked through His Word in the avenues of RUF, church, and friends, I had a sober realization about myself. I am a whole lot more messed up than I ever thought. My pride, my looking down on others, my idolatry of others approval, etc. were exposed. I slowly began to realize shockingly enough that I didn't have it all together. My sin was simply more socially acceptable and less noticeable than other sins. However, by revealing more of my sin, God showed me I desperately needed the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe Ryle was unraveling this truth in a much more eloquent and deep way. For my part I am persuaded the more light we have, the more we see our own sinfulness: the nearer we get to heaven, the more we are clothed with humility. Our love of Christ directly relates to our realization of our own sinfulness. When we see just how gross and vast our sin is, we get a glimpse of just how high and deep is the love of Christ (Eph. 3:18). Terribly black must that guilt be for which nothing but the blood of the Son of God could make satisfaction. Heavy must that weight of human sin be which made Jesus groan and sweat drops of blood in agony at Gethsemane, and cry at Golgotha, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Dare I say that we should all be praying that God would show us our sin? A tough prayer indeed, because it means we begin to see just how vile and rebellious we are. But, only then do we see Christ's love magnified. I am so bad that the Son of God had to die for me. But I am so loved that the Son of God died for me and therefore nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God (Rom 9:39). This is what sends Christians into the world clothed in humility, yet with unwavering boldness.
It's a sad truth that most non-Christians think Christianity is simply a religion of "get your life in order and Jesus will like you." But maybe that is simply because that is what much of modern day Christianity has told people. As Ryle states "Dim or indistinct views of sin ar eth origin of most of the errors, heresies, and false doctrines of the present day. If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his sould's disease, you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies." When we've forgotten the depth and seriousness of sin, then a 3 step process of clean yourself up is good enough. All of us need to remind one another that Christians are messed up people that only come to the throne of God through Christ's righteousness for While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8). By the way, I don't consider cheering for Miss. State a sin anymore, however I wouldn't be surprised if it led to many sinful thoughts this past Saturday.
posted by Brian @ 3:50 PM
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