“Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)
Which do you see yourself as, a wretch saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not worthy of even a single mercy of His, or one justified who will enter into His Kingdom, heir of all and called a son of God?
Those who have been born-again will understand those words perfectly, and will see no contradiction in them, for we flutter continuously between those two states. We are unworthy because of our past sins, the mind that desires above all else to glorify the Living God in our lives is constantly battling the desires of the flesh, we want that which we hate, we want to be free from the burden of His service, to do as we please.
We want the lust of the flesh and the eyes fulfilled, we want others to recognize us for our accomplishments, we seek pride for vainglory. And so, we view ourselves as despicable in His eyes, and wonder why He loves us.
“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26)
Yet at the same time we know as a truth that we are hid in Christ, that the Almighty has chosen us for Himself, that He has called us to live with Him in His eternal Kingdom, that Romans 8:35 is a truth. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
We are torn asunder many times a day my friends, we are in more than one battle in every moment of our lives, and there is a subtle trap on both ends of this spectrum.
Flogging ourselves, as it were, for not being what we know we are called to be is a terrible way for a servant of the Most High God to go through this life, but many do so, seeing themselves as unworthy because we cannot live up to the standards that he has set before us. Not loving our neighbor as we should, not living a holy and righteous life before Him continuously, not dying to self completely, still desiring, even if only in our thoughts, those things of the world that are an offense to our Lord.
Not being enough like Christ.
And so we beat ourselves up continuously, and miss the truth of Romans 5:8. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
On the other side of that spectrum lays the opportunity for Spiritual pride, worthy because of our acceptance of the Almighty, chosen because of our actions and words, a child of God, forgetting Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Despair and despondency on one hand, vainglory and pride on the other.
The battle for one who has been crucified with Christ is always on more than one front, it never ends, it never subsides, it will be fought by those that love and serve Him until our dying breath.
To neglect to accept these truths is to have already fallen prey to one of them, turning works meant to glorify the Lord into a form of self-serving profitableness, or becoming, as it were, unprofitable because one sees themself continually as vile in His sight.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1st Tim. 1:15)
What we cannot see the Lord sees clearly, what we do not know He knows fully.
A servant serves as he is called to, he does not presuppose on the grace of God, nor does he see himself as worthy of it, if God has chosen you, then the reason is His to know.
In this life lived for Him, dead in Christ and raised with Him, we will travel to both sides of that spectrum, the one blessed with wisdom will recognize when he has traveled too far in either direction.
