A cherished hymn of the Christian Church, Amazing Grace, penned by John Newton, a man whose life was a demonstration of God's amazing grace, is known by heart by many of us.
And while well known, my Pastor remarked that many people want to change the wording in the first verse of this hymn:
"Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!"
That saved a wretch like me!"
The problem, said Pastor Adam, is that people do not want to be referred to as a wretch. According to Webster's 1828 dictionary:
Wretch
WRETCH, noun
1. A miserable person; one sunk in the deepest distress; as a forlorn wretch
2. A worthless mortal; as a contemptible wretch
3. A person sunk in vice; as a profligate wretch
4. It is sometimes used by way of slight or ironical pity or contempt.
Poor wretch was never frighted so.
5. It is sometimes used to express tenderness; as we say, poor thing.
1. A miserable person; one sunk in the deepest distress; as a forlorn wretch
2. A worthless mortal; as a contemptible wretch
3. A person sunk in vice; as a profligate wretch
4. It is sometimes used by way of slight or ironical pity or contempt.
Poor wretch was never frighted so.
5. It is sometimes used to express tenderness; as we say, poor thing.
We don't want to think of ourselves as that bad. We don't comprehend, we cannot wrap our heads around the reality of how repugnant our sin is in the sight of a Holy God. Proverbs 20:6 says,
"Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?"
It seems our default mode of thinking when it comes to self-evaluation regarding goodness is a "horizontal" one. We look around us, and it is easy to find people who's behavior or life are much worse than our own. We compare ourselves to those with a more scarlet reputation, and it gives us a sense of superiority. And horizontally, this may be the case. However, I believe that when sin entered into the world, it affected everything including our thinking. Even our thinking is messed up and needs to be corrected and renewed.
The Apostle Paul, in replying to the Church at Corinth, comments on the wisdom of this horizontal look:
"For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."
(2 Corinthians 10:12)
Why is this so? Because our standard is not the life or behavior of other fallen men and women. It is not a horizontal look, but a "vertical" look that we must take, and realize that God has a standard by which He judges "good", a standard that is so high, none of us can handle it: sinless perfection in thought, word, and deed.
I believe that Jesus, when delivering the sermon on the mount, was fulfilling prophetic scriptures regarding Messiah, and doing something else:
That, my friend, is God's standard of good.
And that's our problem.
Isaiah the prophet wrote, speaking of the servant of the LORD:
While it can be argued that Isaiah through the Holy Ghost is speaking of the nation of Israel, it may also be argued that this magnification of the law is a work of the Redeemer. Look back at Matthew chapter 5, and see how the Lord Jesus took the letter of the law ("Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time...But I say unto you....") and lifted it to a higher level. To hate without a just cause is equated with murder; to look with lust is to commit adultery in the heart. Jesus took the law and lifted it up to such a lofty height, he put it completely out of the reach and grasp of sinful men and women. And so, to understand God's standard of good is to better understand the Holiness of God, and also better understand my own sinfulness. My own wretchedness. And that is why me and you and everyone needs God's grace, and a verse that is comforting to me, when I see that I have nothing good to offer God in myself, even on my best day, even after God saved me, is this:
And so I say Amen. Thank you, Lord.
Maranatha!
Paul
I believe that Jesus, when delivering the sermon on the mount, was fulfilling prophetic scriptures regarding Messiah, and doing something else:
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
(Matthew 5:48)
That, my friend, is God's standard of good.
And that's our problem.
Isaiah the prophet wrote, speaking of the servant of the LORD:
"The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable."
(Isaiah 42:21)
While it can be argued that Isaiah through the Holy Ghost is speaking of the nation of Israel, it may also be argued that this magnification of the law is a work of the Redeemer. Look back at Matthew chapter 5, and see how the Lord Jesus took the letter of the law ("Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time...But I say unto you....") and lifted it to a higher level. To hate without a just cause is equated with murder; to look with lust is to commit adultery in the heart. Jesus took the law and lifted it up to such a lofty height, he put it completely out of the reach and grasp of sinful men and women. And so, to understand God's standard of good is to better understand the Holiness of God, and also better understand my own sinfulness. My own wretchedness. And that is why me and you and everyone needs God's grace, and a verse that is comforting to me, when I see that I have nothing good to offer God in myself, even on my best day, even after God saved me, is this:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 5:20,21)
(Romans 5:20,21)
Maranatha!
Paul
