Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Boldness in Grace

This is from a book I have referred to a number of times:

Preaching the gospel to myself each day nourishes within me a holy brazenness to believe what God says, enjoy what He offers, and do what He commands. By the grace of God I am what I am and I have what I have, and I hereby resolve not to let any portion of grace prove vain in me! And to the degree that I fail to live up to this resolve, I will boldly take for myself the forgiveness that God says is mine and continue walking in His grace. This is my manifesto, my daily resolve, and my God be glorified by the confidence that I place in Him.
Understanding that I am not the ultimate end of gospel, but rather that God’s glory is, actually enables me to embrace my salvation more boldly that I would otherwise dare to do. For example, when my timid heart questions why God would want to love someone as sinful as I, I read the answer, “to the praise of the glory of His grace” [Eph. 1:6,12,14]. I figure, then, that my unworthiness must actually be useful to God, because it magnifies the degree to which His grace might be glorified as He lavishes His saving kindness on me.
Indeed, the more I embrace and experience the gospel, the more I delight in the worship of God, the more expressive my joy in Him becomes, and the more I yearn to glorify Him in all I say and do. (Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer, 52, 54)

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