..................................................................................................
Our Calling
“… separated to the gospel of
God …” — Romans 1:1
Our
calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the
gospel of God.
The
one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the
abiding reality.
Reality
is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell - it is redemption.
The
need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today.
As
workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only
reality.
Personal
holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it.
If
we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.
Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when
it pleased God, who separated me …” (Galatians 1:15).
Paul
was not overly interested in his own character.
And
as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never
even get close to the full reality of redemption.
Christian
workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their
desire to know God.
“Don’t ask me
to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth
of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me
to make me more desirable in my own eyes.”
To
talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to
touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that.
God
cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character.
Paul
was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered,
and separated by God for one purpose — to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3).
WISDOM FROM
OSWALD CHAMBERS
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an
organization; the note is, “We must keep
this thing going.”
If
we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it
won’t. Conformed to His Image, 357 R
No comments:
Post a Comment