"WE should observe, in these verses, the extreme wickedness of human nature. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem were neither neither moved by our Lord's miracles, nor by His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. Once more it is written that "they took up stones to stone Him."
Our Lord had done the Jews no injury. He was no robber, murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. He was one whose whole life ws love, and who "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38) There was no fault or inconsistency in His character. There was no crime that could be laid to His charge. So perfect and spotless a man had never walked on the face of the earth. But yet the Jews hated Him, and thirsted for His blood. How true are the words of Scripture: "They hated Him without a cause." (John 15:25) How just the remark of an old divine: "Unconverted men would kill God Himself if they could only get at Him." -JC Ryle
Would I have been so hateful toward Jesus if I lived in that time, and saw Him for who He was? I think I would. I in fact hated God for years. It may not have looked like it on the outside, but I did.
I loved my sin; I loved me. Jesus said you have to hate your own life, not to mention everything else in your life, or you can have no part of Him. There's no way I would do that, unless He brought me to Himself, and His mercy and power would change my evil and hard heart. And Jesus did just that, back in the autumn of 1984.
I still love my sin, but I now hate that I love it. I'm no longer a slave to sin, but now am a grateful slave in His kingdom, and to His righteousness. It's a struggle every day, and shall be until Christ comes, or I fall asleep with the other saints before me. However, in the new earth I'm guaranteed no more struggle, but pure 100% righteousness and love will reign! And Christ shall be seen face to face throughout eternity! And to be with Christ, our Savior and Friend is what eternity is all about.
2 comments:
"I still love my sin, but I now hate that I love it."
That is difficult for some of my friends to grasp. They accuse us "right-wing Evangelicals" of being holier than thou, when in fact, we are keenly aware that we are not holy. In a way, we are worse than the unregenerate, because we ought to know better. Our actions prove that we love our sin, but by the Spirit's conviction, we hate that we love it.
Yes Craver, and they can't understand, just as we are all in the dark, until Jesus shines His light into our hearts.
And it's Christ's death for our sins, that really makes us hate that we still sin. But inspite of this great stuggle, our Savior loves us, and cares. We simply need to cast our cares upon Him. His graciousness is beyond all comprehension really.
Thanks for the visit bro.
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