Struggle
I've recently been thinking about sanctification. In past studies I learned that the law has three uses - the pedagogical, the civil, and the didactic. It is with this third use of the law that I have concerned myself with in my recent studies. As I studied I came across these words by Horatius Bonar:
"What, then, is this new relationship between us and the law, which faith establishes?
There are some who speak as if in this matter there is the mere breaking up of the old relationship. the canceling of the old covenant, without the substitution of anything new. They dwell on such texts as these: "Not under the law," "delivered from the law," "without the law," affirming that a believing man has nothing more to do with law at all. They call that "imperfect teaching" which urges obedience to law in the carrying out of a holy life; they brand as bondage the regard to law which those pay. who, studying Moses and the prophets, and specially the psalms of him who had tasted the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works (Psa 32:1), are drinking into the spirit of David, or more truly. into the spirit of the greater than David, the only begotten of the Father, who speaks, in no spirit of bondage. of the laws and statutes and judgments and commandments of the Father."
Below is another recent article I came across:
"...what does it mean to struggle with God? It means, in the first place, that we struggle with the providence of God. The tension between the already and the not yet indicates that Christians live in a sinful world, a world that is affected by sin and inhabited by sinners. Illness, disease, famine, and natural disasters are all consequences of living in a world that is itself affected by sin and is “not yet” made new. Lawlessness, violence, terrorism, and war are consequences of living in a world inhabited by sinners who have also “not yet” been made new or who may never be.
Christians living between the times must struggle with these kinds of consequences in the providence of God. Our struggle, however, is never to be against Him. No matter how dark His providence may be, we are never to fight against God or to shake our fist at Him. But there are many times in the Christian life when we may not understand what God is doing. There are many times when we may question why “bad things” are happening to us. What is the Christian to do, for instance, when the marriage breaks down? When the child runs away, turns her back on the family, or dies an unexpected death? What is the Christian to do when the doctors say it is cancer? When an accident takes away all “quality of life” in an instant? When, as has been true in my own experience, the nation’s worst natural disaster destroys one’s home, business, church, and community? What is the Christian to do at times like this? Quite simply, he or she is to struggle with God."
Read this article in it's entirety HERE
"What, then, is this new relationship between us and the law, which faith establishes?
There are some who speak as if in this matter there is the mere breaking up of the old relationship. the canceling of the old covenant, without the substitution of anything new. They dwell on such texts as these: "Not under the law," "delivered from the law," "without the law," affirming that a believing man has nothing more to do with law at all. They call that "imperfect teaching" which urges obedience to law in the carrying out of a holy life; they brand as bondage the regard to law which those pay. who, studying Moses and the prophets, and specially the psalms of him who had tasted the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works (Psa 32:1), are drinking into the spirit of David, or more truly. into the spirit of the greater than David, the only begotten of the Father, who speaks, in no spirit of bondage. of the laws and statutes and judgments and commandments of the Father."
Below is another recent article I came across:
"...what does it mean to struggle with God? It means, in the first place, that we struggle with the providence of God. The tension between the already and the not yet indicates that Christians live in a sinful world, a world that is affected by sin and inhabited by sinners. Illness, disease, famine, and natural disasters are all consequences of living in a world that is itself affected by sin and is “not yet” made new. Lawlessness, violence, terrorism, and war are consequences of living in a world inhabited by sinners who have also “not yet” been made new or who may never be.
Christians living between the times must struggle with these kinds of consequences in the providence of God. Our struggle, however, is never to be against Him. No matter how dark His providence may be, we are never to fight against God or to shake our fist at Him. But there are many times in the Christian life when we may not understand what God is doing. There are many times when we may question why “bad things” are happening to us. What is the Christian to do, for instance, when the marriage breaks down? When the child runs away, turns her back on the family, or dies an unexpected death? What is the Christian to do when the doctors say it is cancer? When an accident takes away all “quality of life” in an instant? When, as has been true in my own experience, the nation’s worst natural disaster destroys one’s home, business, church, and community? What is the Christian to do at times like this? Quite simply, he or she is to struggle with God."
Read this article in it's entirety HERE
sung by Rick at 7:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home