“My sin,
oh, the BLISS of this glorious thought!...”
One sad development in Mr Spafford’s trials is the reaction of the
leadership of his church. Rather than support and encourage him during his dark
times, they claimed that his problems were evidence of divine judgment!
Beloved, does God kill a Believer’s children when the Believer sins?
Does God wipe out all their property with fire if he feels they’re not holy
enough? Does He strike the Believer’s 4-year-old son with an incurable disease
if the Believer’s ‘altar’ is getting cold?
It’s saddening that three millennia after Job’s friends made the mistake
of equating Pain with Punishment, (see the book of Job) many in the Church
still commit the same error.
Another Christian of lesser stamina would have been crushed by this
painful condemnation by the community of believers that are supposed to comfort
them during this period of unimaginable tragedy. But thank God for this man
Stafford; though a practicing lawyer, he apparently had spent enough time with
the Scriptures to know that when God forgives, He forgives completely and
totally.
As though in response to their
accusations, he writes:
...My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no
more...
Our Lord unequivocally stated in Jn 5:24, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto
life.
When we’re not sure whether we’re completely forgiven, when we suspect
God may still be holding a grudge, we open our lives to satanic assaults
masquerading as divine discipline. And rather than run into the arms of “the
God of all comforts” (2Cor 1:3), we leave ourselves out in the rain: buffeted
by Satan, a guilty conscience, and insensitive brethren.
Col 2:14 (ERV) says, Because we broke God's laws, we owed a debt – a
debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that
debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.
Halleluyah!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
AMEN.
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not
miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN
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