Thursday, September 30, 2010

We cannot boast in our feeling or passion for Jesus..
From the Screwtape Letters:
“The great thing is to prevent his doing anything.  As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance.  Let the little brute wallow in it.  Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilising the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act.  No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will.  As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened.  The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.” Chp. 13
via (Part of The Vinehttp://part0fthevine.tumblr.com/)

And even once that love and passion has become too much to hold in that it overflows to everyone around you, we cannot boast in our complete obedience to Jesus...
"When you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"(Luke 17:10) This is a profound statement and utterly devastating to the last vestige of pride. Jesus says, no degree of obedience, from the worst to the best, merits any absolute claim on God. A perfectly obedient human should say-it would be part of his obedience-"I am an unworthy servant". That is, "I do not put You in any absolute sense in debt to reward me". This conviction is the root of humility-that we deserve nothing good from God. Everything good that we get from God is mercy. The joy of the humble does not reside in being deserving but in receiving mercy."
from Piper's What Jesus Demands from His Disciples

We have nothing in ourselves to commend us to God, apart from His Holy Spirit, which is a seal and a promise.

No comments:

Post a Comment