A Heart that is Awakened

The beauty of true Christianity is not that man comes to know God, but that God allows man to know Him in a very intimate way through His Son, Jesus Christ. God does this by the effectual call which He places upon the heart of the one whom He is saving. By His grace He awakens man to the reality of his dreadful condition by opening up His mind to see that he is a sinner who has violated the heavenly law which demands perfection. You see, God is perfect, holy, and just and cannot tolerate any kind of sin. This is a problem for us because we are sinners by birth and sin is woven in the fabric of our nature. There is nothing we can do that isn’t tainted with sin. Even our tears of repentance need to be repented of. You must understand, oh man, that apart from a work of God upon your heart you are utterly and hopelessly lost, just as it is written: “No one is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. “ “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. “ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

So the beauty of true saving faith is when God takes you to the place of Golgotha and shows you His Son, Jesus Christ, hanging on a cross covered in blood, sweat, and tears; When He opens up your heart to hear yourself with the angry mob chanting, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” It is then and only then that you can cry out with the Apostle Paul, “For I do not understand what I am doing because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. So, I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” May the grace of God open your heart to truly show you your condition apart from His grace that is found only in Jesus Christ.