SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/14/2023 9:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4 “The
Response to Jesus”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
19:20-22
Message of the verses: “20 The young man said
to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" 21 Jesus
said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your
possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow Me." 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he
went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property.”
I want to continue looking at John MacArthur’s quote
where we left off in our last SD.
“Jesus
took the focus off the young man’s felt religious and psychological needs and
placed it on God. He tried to show the
man that the real problem in his life was not his feeling of emptiness and
incompleteness, legitimate and important as those feelings were. His great problem, from which those felt
needs arose, was His separation from God and his total inability to reconcile
himself with God. Scripture says, ‘God is angry with the wicked every day’ (Ps.
7:11 KJV). In himself this man not only
fell far short of God’s righteousness standards but was, in fact, an enemy of
God and under His wrath (Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:3).
And God will not save those who try to come to Him harboring sin.
“Evangelism
or personal witnessing that does not confront people with their utter
sinfulness and helplessness is not faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ, no
matter how much His name and His Word may be invoked. A profession of Christ that does not include
confession and repentance of sin does not bring salvation, no matter how much
pleasant emotion may result. To tell an
unbeliever that God has a wonderful plan for his life can be seriously
misleading. If the unbeliever turns to
Christ and is saved, God does indeed have a wonderful plan for him. But if he does not turn to Christ, God’s only
plan for him is damnation. In the same
way it is misleading and dangerous to tell an unbeliever only that God loves
him, without telling him that, in spite of that love, he is under God’s wrath
and sentenced to hell.
“God’s
grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until His law is preached
and man’s corrupt nature is exposed. It
is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God’s grace until he
sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God’s law. It is impossible for him to realize his need
for mercy until he realizes the magnitude of his guilt. As Samuel Bolton wisely commented, ‘When you
see that men have been wounded by the law, then it is time to pour in the
gospel oil.’
“Instead
of being wounded by the law, however, the rich young ruler was self-satisfied
in regard to the law. He diligently
sought eternal life, but he sought it on his own terms and in his own power. He would not confess his sin and admit his
spiritual poverty. Confession of sin and
repentance from sin are utterly essential to salvation. John the Baptist began his ministry preaching
repentance (Matt.3:2), Jesus began His ministry preaching repentance (4:17),
and both Peter and Paul began their ministries preaching repentance (Acts 2:38;
26:20). Peter enven used repentance as a
synonym for salvation when he wrote that ‘the Lord…is patient toward you, not
wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9).
“True
conviction, confession, and repentance of sin are as much a work of the Holy
Spirit as any other part of salvation (John 6:44); 16:8-9). They are divine works of grace, not
pre-salvation works of human effort. But
just as receiving Christ as Lord and Savior demands the action of the believer’s
will, so do confession and repentance.
It is not that an unbeliever must understand everything about
confession, repentance, or any other aspect of salvation. A person can genuinely receive Christ as Lord
and Savior with very little knowledge about Him and the gospel. But genuine belief is characterized by
willingness to do whatever the Lord requires, just as unbelief is characterized
by unwillingness to do whatever He requires.”
Lord
willing, we will begin to look at verse 21 as we begin our next SD on this
fairly long section.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Being reminded of the truth that when I
witness to unbelievers I need to make sure that they understand that repentance
of their sin is a key to becoming a believer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord to give me victory over the
flesh and being reminded that I must hate sin as much as the Lord hates it are
also keys in my life to walk more closely with the Lord.
3/14/2023 9:36 AM
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