GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO IMPERFECT PEOPLE (24)
Scripture: Ruth 1:6-22
This content is part of a series.
God's Faithfulness to Imperfect People (24)
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Ruth 1:6-22
Introduction
From my years of pastoring I've discovered that spiritually there are basically two types of people. Neither type is better or preferred over the other. We all just simply boil down to one inclination or the other. The first person is deeply aware of their sins and is inclined to dwell on their failures. Their life, therefore, features a fair amount of guilt and shame. They tend to view God as someone whose favor they must earn back, often feeling as if they must make up for their mistakes in life. And so, when it comes to God, they have a wrong view of what repentance is (they are inclined to repent out of guilt and shame rather than godly sorrow); they also have an imperfect faith (they see the power of righteousness in themselves and God as a god who must be appeased); finally they have a wrong perspective on life (they think life is about always trying to be better and finally make God happy). Now this isn't true of such a person all the time; I'm just saying that for some people this is where they lean; this is their inclination. For some of you this morning, this tends to be your default conclusion in life.
The second kind of person, however, is quite the opposite. Spiritually, this person knows they have sin, but often they are hard pressed to tell you specifically what sin they are battling. Guilt and shame are not emotions they battle with much; self-sufficiency is their demon. They tend to view God as someone who has saved them and blessed them, even perhaps made them the person they are today, but they typically wouldn't describe God as continuing to transform them. This kind of Christian believes most of that work has already been done. And so, when it comes to God, they also, like the first person, have a wrong view of what repentance is (they don't see much call for personal repentanc ...
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Ruth 1:6-22
Introduction
From my years of pastoring I've discovered that spiritually there are basically two types of people. Neither type is better or preferred over the other. We all just simply boil down to one inclination or the other. The first person is deeply aware of their sins and is inclined to dwell on their failures. Their life, therefore, features a fair amount of guilt and shame. They tend to view God as someone whose favor they must earn back, often feeling as if they must make up for their mistakes in life. And so, when it comes to God, they have a wrong view of what repentance is (they are inclined to repent out of guilt and shame rather than godly sorrow); they also have an imperfect faith (they see the power of righteousness in themselves and God as a god who must be appeased); finally they have a wrong perspective on life (they think life is about always trying to be better and finally make God happy). Now this isn't true of such a person all the time; I'm just saying that for some people this is where they lean; this is their inclination. For some of you this morning, this tends to be your default conclusion in life.
The second kind of person, however, is quite the opposite. Spiritually, this person knows they have sin, but often they are hard pressed to tell you specifically what sin they are battling. Guilt and shame are not emotions they battle with much; self-sufficiency is their demon. They tend to view God as someone who has saved them and blessed them, even perhaps made them the person they are today, but they typically wouldn't describe God as continuing to transform them. This kind of Christian believes most of that work has already been done. And so, when it comes to God, they also, like the first person, have a wrong view of what repentance is (they don't see much call for personal repentanc ...
There are 23376 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
