Hey Xxxx,
I wanted to follow up our discussion from the other day. I made my argument a little off the cuff and didn’t do a good job of explaining. I’ll try to do better now.
I feel like I’ve been hearing for awhile now statements to the effect that when a believer sins, anything less than instant relief from all feelings of guilt is rooted in a failure to appropriate the forgiveness that’s available through the cross. Full communion (especially the feeling of feel communion) must be restored immediately. With you in particular, I have seen how this leads (ironically) to increased guilt as you conclude that you are not fully believing in the finished work of the cross.
Now I want to be careful here, because I think that many concepts have overlapping spheres, and it’s not always easy to draw lines between emotion that is sinful and emotion that is appropriate. Often times, these feelings tend to have the same or similar emotional flavors (forgive the metaphorical language). It would take more time than I have to define every term and provide every caveat. What things I leave unclear, we can continue to discuss and try to reach a better understanding of together.
And test the things I say and the conclusion I arrive at. Provide what arguments to the contrary you see in the Scriptures. Ask other brothers, not only what they think about the matter in general, but how they understand the passages below.
The first is from Micah 7. Piper preached from it in a sermon he gave on dealing with the guilt resultant from sexual sin. I love how rich it is.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
(Micah 7:8-9 ESV)
It speaks for itself, so I won’t say much. Only notice in particular the idea of waiting. It recognizes that the relationship between he and the Lord is affected at some level. However, it does not for a second believe that it irrevocably severed, and more importantly, it looks to the Lord for the setting of time when he will, “look upon his vindication.”
I will skip Hosea 3 for the moment. I believe the idea is at play there as well, but it’s a little more obscure, and I don’t want to try and make the argument for it tonight. Take a look if you have the time. The chapter’s short.
All I could think of last night was Paul’s words in Romans 7. It doesn’t make the case as strongly, but I still think it’s part of the theme.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
(Romans 7:21-25 ESV)
This is Paul reflecting on the continuing presence of sin in the life of the believer. It comes at the end of explaining how this works out and why it is. If nothing else, these verses (especially, “Wretched man that I am!”) calls into question the idea that we should only speak in triumphal words and only and always meditate on our nature as the redeemed, our objective position before God as fully justified. There is no wretchedness in those glorious truths, nor am I convinced that the language applies only to anticipation of future sins. I believe that when Paul sees these laws worked out in the members of his body, he feels wretched. That is why he calls himself, “wretched man.” I do not think that Paul has forgotten about the goodness of creation, not least our bodies, but I think he holds that idea in tension with the falleness of all things, not least our bodies. That is why he calls it, “this body of death.”
Now, finally, hear James:
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
(James 4:4-10 ESV)
I think James says it most strongly. It is unlikely that an unrepentant man is going to respond with such strong emotions. Therefore, James must be talking about what is appropriate for those who are repentant. I do not think the actions listed are in any particular order, but address those things that are being played out at the same time or in varying orders. We submit to God (I read as acknowledging his just judgment and righteous commands); we recognize the schemes of the devil and set up defense against them and pray that the Lord will defend us against him; we draw near to God through prayer and scripture and through all other means that he provides; we cease sinning, not just by stopping, but by identifying what wrong beliefs led to it and how our heart is trying to leave that easy path back to sin open; we recognize that this is a time for sadness, even to the point where we actively reject mirth and levity.
There are just a few passages that I see as supporting the idea that repentance is not always an immediate escape from all emotional/psychic (understand that I use the word, “psychic” in the sense of pertaining to the psyche) consequences of our sin. This sadness over our sin, this dejectedness is not meritorious, nor does it have to be seen as such. Of course that danger exists, but that doesn’t mean for a second that all such feelings should be rejected. We recognize dangers, and we guard against them. We do not let those dangers become the controlling paradigm for why our thoughts and feelings should not conform to the pattern of scripture.
Is there a legitimate concern that is addressed by warning saints not to wallow in their sin, but rather run to the cross? I would say yes. Again, it is a matter of degrees. When conviction and godly grief over our sin are not born with the cross firmly in mind, then it can lead to condemnation, where we no longer believe that salvation is possible. That is unbelief, and it is appropriate to address this by encouraging dejected saints to look at Jesus’ finish worked and see how it applies to them.
I think that is where I will leave it for tonight. Think it over. Ask questions. Challenge my conclusions. However, at the end of the day, I hope you have freedom as a result of this discussion. Freedom to grieve over sin. Freedom to hate it, even in the past tense. I love you, brother.
Grace and Peace,
Jim
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