While traveling toward the Celestial City, Christian asks Hopeful how he came to be on the road headed for the heavenly destination....
Christian: And could you, at any time, easily throw off the feeling of guilt?
Hopeful: No, indeed, for when I tried to do that, sin seemed to take a stronger hold on me. Still, when I considered going back to my old sins, that brought on additional distress, for my mind had been changed, and the idea was repulsive.
Christian: And what did you do then?
Hopeful: I tried to mend my ways....I thought that was the only way to find peace...I quit my sins -- what I considered to be sins -- but also my sinful company and I took up good works, such as praying regularly, reading the Bible, going to church, giving to charity, speaking the truth. These things and many others I was careful to observe.
Christian: How did it happen then that your troubles came back, since you were living a moral life?
Hopeful: Several things caused me to doubt and to feel that all was not well.
For instance such sayings as these: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5); "All our righteousness is as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6); "Being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1); "Except a man be born again he shall not see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
From these plain emphatic statements I would reason like this: If it is not by works of righteousness or works of the law
that a man is justified and saved, then I am not saved.
If I had real faith, I would be justified and have peace in my heart. Therefore, it must be that I am not born of God. And if I am not born of God, I can never see the kingdom of God.
Another thing that troubled me after my reformation was when I examined closely my best deeds, I could see evil mixed with the good -- wrong motives, selfishness, and pride.
So I was forced to conclude that in spite of all my efforts and good opinions of myself, I was still committing enough sin to send me to Hell, even if my former life had been faultless.
Christian: And what did you do?
Hopeful: Do? I did not know what to do. I went to Faithful with my problem (he and I were close friends).
He told me that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man who was perfect and who had never sinned, neither my own righteousness nor all the righteousness of the world could save me.
Christian: And did you believe he was telling you the truth?
Hopeful: Yes, After I saw my own corruption and the sin that clung to my best performance, I had to admit he was right.
Christian: Did you believe such a man could be found? And did you ask him who this man was and where he could be found?
Hopeful: Yes, and he told me that the man was Jesus Christ, who was now seated at the right hand of God, and he said that I must be justified by Him by trusting in Him and what He did for me when He died upon the cross.
I asked him how that man's righteousness could be effectual in justifying another before God.
And he told me that He died not for Himself, but for me, to atone for my sins, to pay off all my debt to God, and that God had accepted what He did for me, and that when I believed in Him and what He did, His righteousness world be imputed to me.
Christian: What did you think of that?
Hopeful: I believed that Jesus was righteous and that He died for the sins of the world; yet I doubted that He would impute His righteousness to one so sinful as myself, and I imagined that He would condemn such before God -- and rightly so.
Christian: And what did Faithful say?
Hopeful: He said, "Why not go to Him and see?" And I said that would presumptuous. He said, "No, for you are invited to come!"
He gave me a book of the very words of Jesus, encouraging me to come.
I asked him what I must do when I came to Christ.
He said I must plead with all my heart and soul to the Father to reveal Him to me.
He said, "You will find Him at the mercy seat, where He sits all year long, granting pardons and forgiveness to them that come.
You simply say (and mean it with all your heart): "God be merciful to me a sinner. I acknowledge and confess my sinfulness and all my sins. Help me to know and believe in Jesus Christ, for I see that without His righteousness and mercy, and unless I believe in that righteousness and accept His offered mercy, I shall be lost forever.
"Lord, I have heard that you are a merciful God, and that You have ordained your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world, and that You are willing to bestow His goodness and mercy upon a poor lost sinner like me -- and I am a wretched, helpless sinner indeed.
"Lord, now take my sins and give me Your righteousness. Magnify Your grace in the salvation of my soul.
In Jesus' name. Amen."
Christian: What particular effect did this have on your spirit and life?
Hopeful: My heart overflowed with joy and peace, also with love for Jesus Christ -- His words, His ways, and His people.
He let me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness in it, is in a state of condemnation and that God the Father, though He is absolutely just, can justly justify the ungodly sinner who believes.
I was now extremely ashamed of my past life and perfectly amazed at my profound ignorance, for I had never before seem the unsurpassed beauty of the love of God revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I now felt that if I had a thousand lives to give, I would gladly give them all in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His sake.
~~~~~
And that's why we still call it "Amazing Grace'!
No comments:
Post a Comment