All His benefits
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Ps. 68:19;116:12).
His protection, His care, His word of acceptance, His sunshine, His rain, His clothing, His shelter, His warmth, the beauty of His creation, His expansive deep space, His gift of human friendships, our children, our parents, His blessings ad infinitum.
He never stops giving. Life is His constant gift. Man cannot create it; he can only receive it. And God never stops giving it.
Yet, we can never claim them without the first of all His gifts—repentance. All those gifts are for our sanctification. But sanctification lies squarely upon justification. The only way to benefit from all His blessings is by first having come to Him for repentance with its automatic result, forgiveness.
All the beautiful, all the scientific, all the things that bless us materially and physiologically become a curse to us if we have not been humbled in the dust and repented of our sinfulness in the face of all His goodness toward us. Without contrition and justification we do to His goodness as the Canaanites did to His land flowing with milk and honey. We corrupt all of it.
The scientific we claim as discoveries our own great genius. The beautiful we consume upon our own lusts by worshipping the created things instead of the Creator of them all. The children or parents He blessed us with we worship and spoil and the great Giver of them receives not a single passing “Thanks.” Even the wonderful truths of the scriptures evolve into error as the unregenerate, unrepentant hearts introduce more and more false assumptions and assertions to justify their backslidden condition and continue their fantasy as part of God’s kingdom.
We can only read David’s psalms in the context of repentance and acceptance by heaven. Any other rendering of it is presumptuous, casual, and ultimately dismal. We have not come into His presence; He has not become real to us; He is not a real friend.
All the Bible promises of peace and rest and comfort apply not to those who have not surrendered to God. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Prov. 28:9). He “deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.” (Jas. 1:26).
Those precious promises are dangled out before the world as potential favor, contingent on conditions. They make up God’s call to a world in rebellion to come in to His city of refuge, the commonwealth of the Israel of God.
Every last promise is for the worst criminal. They are proffered to the vilest sinner who will acknowledge his condition before the holy Law of God. Will the pride break and submit and confess its great need? Or will it continue to resist until it is ground to powder from the consequences of sin? This one issue affects everyone from the proper halls of saints and aristocracy to the vomit-filled gutters and drug-infested skid row.
“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent.” (Acts 2:37,38).
Brethren and sisters, what shall we do about repentance and justification with God? Will we come to Him just as we are and receive from Him His greatest of all gifts?
His protection, His care, His word of acceptance, His sunshine, His rain, His clothing, His shelter, His warmth, the beauty of His creation, His expansive deep space, His gift of human friendships, our children, our parents, His blessings ad infinitum.
He never stops giving. Life is His constant gift. Man cannot create it; he can only receive it. And God never stops giving it.
Yet, we can never claim them without the first of all His gifts—repentance. All those gifts are for our sanctification. But sanctification lies squarely upon justification. The only way to benefit from all His blessings is by first having come to Him for repentance with its automatic result, forgiveness.
All the beautiful, all the scientific, all the things that bless us materially and physiologically become a curse to us if we have not been humbled in the dust and repented of our sinfulness in the face of all His goodness toward us. Without contrition and justification we do to His goodness as the Canaanites did to His land flowing with milk and honey. We corrupt all of it.
The scientific we claim as discoveries our own great genius. The beautiful we consume upon our own lusts by worshipping the created things instead of the Creator of them all. The children or parents He blessed us with we worship and spoil and the great Giver of them receives not a single passing “Thanks.” Even the wonderful truths of the scriptures evolve into error as the unregenerate, unrepentant hearts introduce more and more false assumptions and assertions to justify their backslidden condition and continue their fantasy as part of God’s kingdom.
We can only read David’s psalms in the context of repentance and acceptance by heaven. Any other rendering of it is presumptuous, casual, and ultimately dismal. We have not come into His presence; He has not become real to us; He is not a real friend.
All the Bible promises of peace and rest and comfort apply not to those who have not surrendered to God. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Prov. 28:9). He “deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.” (Jas. 1:26).
Those precious promises are dangled out before the world as potential favor, contingent on conditions. They make up God’s call to a world in rebellion to come in to His city of refuge, the commonwealth of the Israel of God.
Every last promise is for the worst criminal. They are proffered to the vilest sinner who will acknowledge his condition before the holy Law of God. Will the pride break and submit and confess its great need? Or will it continue to resist until it is ground to powder from the consequences of sin? This one issue affects everyone from the proper halls of saints and aristocracy to the vomit-filled gutters and drug-infested skid row.
“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent.” (Acts 2:37,38).
Brethren and sisters, what shall we do about repentance and justification with God? Will we come to Him just as we are and receive from Him His greatest of all gifts?
posted by David | 6:45 AM
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