Friday, March 9, 2007
John 16:7-11 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
OF SIN
One of the differences between law and gospel: the law condemns the gospel saves. So I learned and so I teach and certainly it is so. Yet Paul clearly teaches, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:15). For surely it was not Paul himself that was "the fragrance of Christ" but indeed the message which he preached. As our Lord also taught us, "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men" (Matthew 12:3). Therefore, finally the Holy Spirit convicts no one of sin except those who live in unbelief, who have thus rejected Christ's salvation. We rejoice in this that as many of us as live in Christ are thereby covered with His forgiveness. We are not convicted of sin.
But what shall we say? Does that which saves us then condemn our neighbor? Indeed we often praise the works of other men. We think this is a good man, or that is a good man for look at all they have done. We see a man and think he is a loving father, a good husband, sacrificing much for family or friends or country. We watch movies and TV shows and applaud when the hero wins and leave happy that good has been victorious. But with such thoughts we approve these men not on the basis of the gospel but on the basis of the law. But if we approve on the basis of the law we are lost and condemned for we know what the law has to say to us. But if we stand in the gospel we must also recognize that unbelief condemns these. This is a hard saying which the world will not accept, for why should those who are basically good and live sometimes more virtuous lives than our own be condemned while we remain saved. To this we can only cling to Christ, as indeed is our only option in all things, and say You are just and holy and loving, O Lord. And continue to preach the gospel to our neighbors so that it might become to them the aroma of salvation as it is to us. For if we approve of men by their deeds we also are lost, but now we are saved because of what Christ has done.
