Guilt is more than a feeling. You can be guilty whether you feel it or not. Preachers often think that guilt is a feeling that we are supposed to eradicate. Well, yes and no. A lot of the time, it is our job to make people feel guilty. And that’s a good thing. We comfort the terrified and terrify the comfortable.
The fact is that every person stands guilty before God. We are all - apart from Christ- objects of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3 [show]Ephesians 2:3
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (ESV)
). Though this is not a popular message in our churches, it is the truth.
Some popular diluters of the faith, such as Rick Warren, will say that “God doesn’t expect you to be perfect (Purpose Driven Life, p.92).” But that contradicts the clear words of Jesus Himself. “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48 [show]Matthew 5:48
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (ESV)).” It is part of our fallen nature that we want to reduce the demands of God’s law, to soften it. Why? To make it seem like we can attain God’s favor on our own - even if we still give lip service to sin and grace.
“Gloom, despair and agony on me…” (a special prize to whomever is able to identify the source of this line w/o Google).
Ash Wednesday is useful because it graphically proclaims our mortality. “I am nothing but dust and ashes,” Abraham said (Genesis 18:27 [show]Genesis 18:27
Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. (ESV)). Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. All who sin must die. This is the curse on the Adam in all of us.
We are sinners not because we commit sins. But rather, we commit sins because we are born sinful. Unless we drive this point home, the crucifixion of Jesus seems like overkill. Why did Jesus have to die? Because at that moment, bearing your sin and mine, he deserved to die. Was the Father unjust by slaying an innocent man? No. Jesus had to die because on the cross He became the vilest sinner on earth. “He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21 [show]2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)).”
Your justification is not just a legal fiction. You are righteous and holy on account of Christ. But in this life, you are also a sinner. It’s a paradox, I know. I’m cool with that. So let’s have a good lent. No one likes to consider his sinfulness and mortality. But we need to do that so that we can make sense of the cross. Not that your self-mortifications make you holy. But the Crucified One is your holiness.
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Well said. Prof. Bushur (who is yet another treasure of CTS) speaks to this when he discusses Augustine and justification in his Church History I class.
And I’m old enough to know that the mystery line comes from Hee Haw.
Der Bettler’s last blog post..Verb Forms
Yup, Hee Haw. “If I had no bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…”
The principal reason we cannot attain God’s favor on our own is that it is already ours, from all eternity, as proved by the fact that Christ died for us “while we were yet sinners.”
But as I don’t really imagine an Orthodox viewpoint ought to be posted at any length here, I won’t elaborate here. Anybody who wishes may read more about that (and about 2 Corinthians 5:21 [show]2 Corinthians 5:21
) at my blog, at http://anastasias-corner.blogspot.com
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)
Anastasia Theodoridi’s last blog post..He Who Knew no Sin Became Sin For Us
I remember the quote from the old Hee Haw show “deep dark depression, excessive misery, if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all . . .” Now that does sound like some Lutherans I have known.
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