God’s Appeal to His Stubborn People
Almighty God,
Give us the increase of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you have promised, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
(Anglican Book of Common Prayer, Proper 14)
Psalm 81:10-16 NRSV
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So, I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! Then I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
Heidelberg Catechism Question 60
How are you right with God?
Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner; as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept the gift of God with a believing heart.
G. I. Williamson
Faith itself is not the source of our righteousness. The source is exclusively Jesus. He lived a sinless life and was therefore well pleasing to the heavenly Father. Jesus was also willing to give that righteousness to us. Not only that, but he was willing to bear our sin, our guilt, and our punishment as our substitute. On the basis of this double imputation (of his righteousness to us and our sin to him), he was condemned and we are put right with God. What puts faith in the spotlight, as it were, is the fact that it is by faith alone that we receive this righteousness. Just as it is by a living eye (not a glass eye) that we can see (receive) the light of a beautiful sunset, so it is by a genuine faith (not a dead faith, as James says) that we receive the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. There is no other way that we can receive the righteousness of Christ. We receive it only by relying on him completely.
Whenever a Christian looks at himself, however, one thing is perfectly certain. He is not going to see anything there that will make him think he has made himself righteous. He differs in a radical way from the unbeliever. But the main difference is that he looks completely away from himself and to the Lord Jesus for the whole of his salvation.[1]
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
(Anglican Book of Common Prayer, Proper 16)
Here I Am, Lord
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] G. I. Williamson. The Heidelberg Catechism. Phillipsburgh, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 1993, pp. 107-108.
