Daily in Debt to Grace

Today I listened to a message given at the Worship God 06 conference by Mark Mitchell called Sanctification through Serving. It was a helpful message, and I wanted to type out two of the quotes he used in his conclusion.

J.C. Ryle (from Holiness):

The holiest actions of the holiest saints that ever lived are all more or less full of defects and imperfections. They are either wrong in their motives or defective in their performance, and in themselves are nothing better than splendid sins deserving God's wrath and condemnation. The only righteousness in which we can appear before God is the righteousness of another, even the perfect righteousness of our substitute and representative Jesus Christ the Lord. For all this, however, the Bible distinctly teaches that the holy actions of a sanctified man, though imperfect, are pleasing in the sight of God. . . . He regards them as members of his own dear Son, and for his sake wherever there is a single eye he is well pleased.

J.I. Packer (from Knowing God):

There is unspeakable comfort - the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates - in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that he sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and I am glad!), and that he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought of that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize that purpose.

I want to grow to understand the gospel more and more in my days and moments. I want to see my justification more clearly, so that I see the reality of grace in my sanctification as well. I see so much of my failures, limitations, and sins. But God sees even more; he sees it all. And knowing all, he still purchased me and loves me and is committed to doing his work in me. It is comforting to know that when I am tired out from the hard work of sanctification and growing in Christ, God is not. I work only because he works. While my hold on him fails, his hold on me never fails. He is the one who came to seek and save me, and he is still the one who initiates towards me.

Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be.

photo: Agape Farm - Mt. Union, PA 2010