“I am not ashamed of the gospel!” Romans 1:16
Well, why would we be ashamed of it? Is there an aspect of the gospel that is meant to be offensive?
Was it offensive to Jewish culture (foolishness to the Greeks)? Yes, but is there something foundational that is offensive?
If you can’t tell where I am pushing, the answer is yes.
Not that the gospel must be offensive, but the gospel stands in direct opposition to the pride of the human heart.
The foundation of the gospel has the ability to deeply offend a proud heart by declaring that no one is truly good. Isaiah 64:6, “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.”
The Gospel is meant to offend the proud heart.
Romans 3:9-20
3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, 3:11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 3:12 All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 3:13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” 3:14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
Are you offended? Hopefully not, but I certainly was at one point of my life.
The gospel demands that we come to God in humility. “He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.” -though He does still love to humble the proud so that He can then give them grace
The gospel demands that we come to God as a child. What does it mean to come to God as a child? Among other things, it is to come with no ability to provide for ourselves, and trusting in our Father to take good care of us.
Having a heart that is not offended at the gospel’s convicting us of sin is the first step, but simply agreeing that we have sin is not enough.
Beyond being aware of our sin we must mourn over it, or have a heart that is broken over our sin.
Ezekiel 9:3-4
9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
God highly values a heart that mourns over the sin that pervades one’s culture.
But even more so God values a heart that mourns one’s own sin.
Psalm 51:17 “a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Our sin should be a burden and shame to us. We should be pained over our sin.
-not fun or enjoyable, not meant to be, but at the same time it ultimately leads us to a place of great joy, having “the joy of our salvation made fresh”.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
“I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
Being aware of and having sorrow over our sin is not the chief end God is looking for. God is looking for repentance, not just saying we are sorry. We need to be grieved over our sin enough that we want to be changed, repent, and are changed by the power and help of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance causes God to rejoice, not over our sin of course, but over being able to show us mercy.
“He delights in not having to reward us according to our sin.”- (combination of Micah 7:18 and Psalm 103:10)
It is tempting to want to skip over a deep understanding of our sin, but we cannot fully understand the joy of the gospel (good news) unless we are first pained over our sin, enough that we desperately want to be freed from it.
Relief or comfort isn’t meaningful unless there is first a wound or ailment that causes pain. If taking a pain pill takes away a headache there is reason to be thankful for it, but if you have no pain, then a taking a pain pill is just a waste.
Gods’ grace and mercy toward us do not comfort or impact our hearts in a significant way unless our hearts are torn or wounded over our sin.
Aftershave analogy- it stings, but is put on solely for the purpose of soothing. God convicts us of sin not because He wants to shame us, but because He desires to remove the shame of sin from us. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is painful, but He does it because He wants to heal us.
Summary: While the gospel is a cause for great and unprecedented joy in our lives, there is first a foundation that must be set in place.
We must be aware of, grieved over, and desiring to be forgiven and freed of our sin.
The joy of the gospel can only be felt behind the sting of it confronting the sin in us.
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