STUDY II. ENTRANCE AND GROWTH IN CHRIS TIAN LIFE. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions; And my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in thy sight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, And blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me." (Ps. li. 1-10.) PART I. REMOVING BARRIERS. IF life is relationship, then real life cannot be possible if there are barriers which keep us separated from other persons. The fullest life will be the one which has fewest walls of separation between it and other lives. In order that I may enter into harmonious communion or friendship with other persons, I must make sure that all barriers are removed. The barriers are such as prejudice, hatred, jealousy, or some other form of sin against other persons. If I have sinned against you, I have grieved you. I have thrown up a barrier between you and me. Suppose you have been very good to me and have helped me in every hour of need; then suppose I just pass you by without expressing any gratitude to you for your kindness; or suppose I actively injure your reputation or your business or your person. I have surely raised a barrier between us which makes common understanding and sympathy impossible. You may continue to wish me well-indeed, if you are a true person, you will wish me well-but you cannot possibly approve the way I have acted. There is just one way for me to get back into your approving friendship, and that is to change my attitude toward you and make you see that I have changed my attitude. Technically, this is called repentance. We care not what it is called; what we want to know is its meaning. The word itself means change of mind. It is this change of attitude from one of indifference or hostility to one of interest and friendliness. This change of attitude may be brought about by my seeing the heinous results of my deeds on your life, or by my seeing the continued goodness of your soul, or by seeing how you hate my attitude but still love me and wish me well. I will certainly never be turned to repentance by seeing how you hate me in response to my hatred for you. That never brings repentance. My sense of repentance may strike deep into my emotional life, or it may be more in the realm of sober judgment; but, in any case, my whole personality sees its wrong and deliberately comes back to you and tells you of the wrong and asks you to forgive. Sin and selfishness-perhaps we ought to say sin as selfishness-have led us away from God. They have made us ungrateful to God or even rebellious against his will. He has done all possible for us. He has made large, full, and rich life possible to us. But we turn from him and thus grieve him. How can we get back into the approving love of God? We must see that our attitude is wrong. We must change that attitude. This we will be induced to do when we see how God disapproves our actions and when we see how he loves us in spite of our attitude. This we are able to see in the life and death of Christ as nowhere else; and it is for this reason that presenting Christ to men has so often led them to change their minds, to set aside the old attitude and turn in loving fellowship to God. It means that we begin to feel about evil as Christ feels about it. It means that we have the attitude toward life which Christ has. Old attitudes have passed away, and all things have become new. STUDY II. ENTRANCE AND GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN LIFE. "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins." (Isa. xliii. 25.) (Isa. "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." xliv. 22.) "Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa. i. 18.) PART II. GOD'S ATTITUDE OF APPROVAL. WHAT ought to be my attitude toward one who has sinned against me? Shall it be hatred, anger, scorn, desire for revenge, or simple indifference? It should be none of these. It ought to be one of hearty disapproval of the offender's deeds and of the spirit which prompted those deeds. But if I am really a true man, certainly if I am a Christian, my attitude should be one of kindliness toward the man and desire that he should change his attitude toward me. The one thing I should want ought not to be revenge, but that he shall come to see his error and change his attitude. God's attitude toward selfish and sinful men is not one of hatred. God never punishes for revenge; his punishment is always for reformation. Like a good father, he may have to punish the child in order to show the child how he disapproves his spirit and action. But God loves all men always. He never hates men. He only disapproves-heartily and strongly disapproves-the evil manner of life. Being wholly righteous, he must disapprove all evil. "Sense of value of an object, but not necessarily moral approbation of the object, is the essence of love." 'Clark, "The Christian Doctrine of God," page 86. |