The Difficulty of the Doctrine of Grace

I am a sinner. A wretched man. I deserve not grace, but condemnation. As it is written: "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Yet we who have received Christ and the knowledge of the Living God are given mercy and compassion, that we might be saved. 

Those of us who have come to know God, recognize our own sinfulness, our own wickedness. We continue to struggle with sin and the corruption of our flesh. It is a struggle we will continue to endure until the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is this knowledge that leads us to forsake sin and detest its hold on us. We long daily for the redemption of our bodies and the end of the curse so that we can serve our God in spirit and truth. But it is also one of the things that perplexes us the most.

You see, when one has been regenerated, when one begins to have the mind of Christ, sin becomes detestable to us. We recognize that all sin is an affront to the holiness and moral perfection of the Triune God. As a result, we can no longer look upon sin with approval or even indifference. We now view sin with utter contempt. If I, a sinful, wretched man hate sin, even though sin is still within me. How can a perfect, holy, righteous God be able to not condemn the entire world for the wickedness that men do?

Most men and women consider that God should love all and that most people are basically good, although they make mistakes. So the concept of God's divine wrath seems harsh and unfair. Some might even say that it is cruel. Yet they can only speak such nonsense because of their own sinfulness. God's wrath is easily understandable when one learns and appreciates ones own evil. It is good and just and wonderful that God punishes evil. I would have it no other way. I look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will punish the wicked and cast them into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What I have a difficulty with is not God's wrath, but God's grace. In modern America wickedness and evil abound. Abortion, divorce, fornication, homosexuality are the norm. The average American doesn't seem to notice, nor does it seem like they particularly care. Knowledge of sin has been actively suppressed in most places to the point that its pronouncement is met with scorn and ridicule. Evolutionary notions of the upward movement of human society preclude ancient and ignorant notions of sin and judgement. Such ideas belong in the bygone eras of goat herders and ignorant unsophisticated people who lacked our scientific knowledge and ever evolving social mores. But God will not be mocked. All men will be judged for every thought, word, and deed. All will come into judgement. It is not a matter of whether one will be judged, but how? Will you be judged according to your own works or the works of Christ? Do you trust in your own goodness or the goodness of Christ?

At the end of the book of Joshua, Joshua states: “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” This is the reality all men face. Who will you serve? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

My First Post

I have never written a blog before. So this will be my first attempt at writing a blog. I ask all who might happen to read this to bear with me as I learn to put my thoughts in written form. I hope that those who read this might find something of value here and that I might glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in this endeavor.

Soli Deo Gloria