For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
One of the hardest parts for me about the sanctification process is what I learn about myself. As I behold the glory of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) and am transformed from one degree of glory to the next, I don’t gain a better opinion of myself. In fact, it is the exact opposite. I find myself resenting the fact that I’m not a good person. I’m certain that I’m not alone.
We have some options. We can resign to being a less-than-stellar person and give up trying to make any progress towards Christ. We can try and fix ourselves and be like those Galatians whom Paul says are trying to finish in the flesh what has been started in the Spirit (Galatians 3:3). Or, the option I recommend, we can press into Christ.
While the third option seems absurd to me because I don’t believe Jesus would actually love the unlovable me or that I am simply making excuses as to why I can’t fix myself, it is the only option that will lead to our cooperation with God’s will: our sanctification. We must draw near to God in full assurance of faith and go against our instinct trusting that God has promised to give us mercy and grace to help us. No matter how needy we are, God has a fresh supply of mercy and grace for us!
I simply want to make two points, which I need to hear as badly as anyone. If you can relate to this struggle, I hope that you are encouraged to know that Jesus has provided reconciliation, making us right with God, and redemption, buying us back and saving our lives from God’s judgment.
Now, turning to Romans 5:6-8, we can see something very significant. Notice when God sent Jesus to die for the ungodly (we’re all included!). Jesus came to earth while we were still sinners. He didn’t come when we had cleaned up our act. He didn’t saunter in to provide the little extra boost that we needed to get over the hump. He died when we were helplessly enslaved to sin waiting for God to execute His judgment on us. Jesus did not hold the lofty opinion of us that we hold of ourselves! He knew that the people He came to save were sinners, ungodly, enemies of God, rebels who actively oppose God’s authority. And He did it without anger or bitterness or frustration. He did it with love!
The Cross reminds us that Jesus loves us more than we can understand. And it reminds us that Jesus loved us while we were still sinners, separated from God, more than we can understand! That love is not dependent upon our goodness now as Christians anymore than it was then when we were enemies of God. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and His love for us is the same as well.
We can trust in that. In fact, we should cling to it to ensure that we don’t fall away from the help God offers us! If we forget the love that Jesus shows us at the Cross, we can forget that He finds us precious even though we fall short of the holiness He calls us to. So, don’t forget! His love for us is perfect and not dependent on our “loveableness.” Thank God, right? Otherwise, I think we’d all be in some trouble.
Second. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. In Romans, we are reminded that we should never think of ourselves more highly than we ought to. God is actively working to make sure that we don’t! His Spirit convicts us of sin. His Word shows us the standard that we fail to meet. Relationships with others reveal the sin in our hearts. And these are good things! If we walked around each day feeling pretty good about ourselves, we wouldn’t sense such a great need for Jesus. But God sees things as they truly are. He knows our hearts. And He knows how much we continue to need Jesus Christ on a daily basis so He refuses to let us keep thinking well of ourselves.
Hebrews tells us that it is for discipline that we have to endure because God is treating us as His children! (chapter 12:7) No loving parent lets his/her child continue to be disillusioned about life. In a similar way, our Father refuses to let us forget our great need for Him!
It is a good thing that God seeks to humble us since He actively opposes the proud. It is a good thing that the Cross is a constant reminder of how desperately we need grace. At times, it is good to see ourselves as a failure, just as long as we don’t remain there.
We need to trust that as we grow in Christlikeness, we will grow in distaste for the sin that is still present in our lives. Our opinion of ourselves will become more accurate, which means that we will think less of ourselves. But, more importantly, it should also grow our adoration and reverence and love of Jesus because of what He has done and is doing for us.
When we are tempted to be discouraged by the long road yet to travel on this Christian voyage, we only need to consider Jesus to remember that we are loved by the God who upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). And that makes all the difference.
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