A Mirror of Middling Madness.

It's time to assess our conditional risk.

It seems the older I get, the more I realize how little I know. And perhaps even more importantly, the more able I become, the more I realize just how "unable" I am to do anything worthwhile without the Divine hand directing my steps. It's hard enough to feel as though I am on any progressive road to sanctification as it is (that is, knowing my justification in Christ Jesus, by the substitutionary atoning work of His blood as sacrificed on the cross, his resurrection, and now with the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me, sanctifying me and reconciling me in preparation for resurrection)! I was at an informal meeting with some fellow Bible students and faculty the other day, and this subject came up: That is, how do we live, knowing that we are stuck somewhere in Romans 7, doing what we do not want, and not doing what we do? I'm not sure there is a definite answer to this question, other than that we need to continue to pressing onwards towards Christ and sanctification daily, nay, each moment. In other words, there is no "quick fix" or "answer" to that problem...and it almost seems illegitimate that we should even look for one. Paul himself states Romans 7 only as a prelude in some ways to Romans 8, in which where we stand in Christ is demonstrated almost as a reason to (and encouragement in) continuing our striving.

Regardless, this is not exactly why I brought this subject up. I brought it up because in the discussion the other day, the point was made that the further we grow in Christ, the deeper we understand the depth of our own sinfulness, and that this is why it always seems to us that we aren't "getting any better." We simply have a deeper understanding of how fallen we are, and therefore it pains us more the closer grow to God. I think this view has some merit. The idea then is that the guilt and shame of our sin is always before us, not as a discouragement, but as a reminder that we are not already sanctified, lest we expose our hypocrisy. It also serves to exhort us to continue on this difficult road. It is important to note here that guilt and shame over our sin is not a bad thing! Far from it, it is supposed to be an externally perceivable motivator for our action. Now, that is not so say that guilt and shame cannot be taken out of the correct proportions and uses....they can, but so can nearly anything. The love of Christ, for instance, without the reality of human sin, is a meaningless feel-good tenant that is no more powerful than an hundred celebrities singing "We are the World." But, paired with an appropriate understanding of the fall, the love of Christ becomes the most necessary, powerful, and important message to this dying world. But I digress...

A few spare bits....

-I'm attempting to change my sleeping habits again in order to get up around 7am instead of the 8.30 I had fallen into. I'll....let you know how that goes.

-I've been in a really strange mood lately. If you've been following any of my statuses on facebook, you'll know what I mean. Weird and . . . verbose. Oh well.

-I'm again attempting to write lyrics, which either could turn out really well, or end up with me wanting to burn down some unsuspecting piece of furniture. History puts the probability at around 50%.

I think I'm going to trundle on off to unproductive uses of my time....until next time, try not to fail any spot checks.