unceasing anguish and great sorrow - part 3

This is the third and probably final post on Romans 9:1-3. So far I have discussed our state apart from Christ which in turn leads to our just punishment of eternal damnation in hell. And now we get to the good news. 

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,” and then down in verse 4 come two of the best words in the entire Bible…”BUT GOD!”

You were dead “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved”

We were “alienated from God” (Colossians 1:21) BUT GOD “brought us near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 1:13)

We were enemies of God (Colossians 1:21) BUT GOD made us “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19) and adopted us as sons by which we cry out “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)

We couldn’t submit to God’s law or please God (Romans 8:7-8) BUT GOD “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:14)

We were slaves to sin and the devil (John 8:34 and 2 Timothy 2:26) BUT GOD “freed us from sin and we have become slaves to God” (Romans 6:22)

We couldn’t understand the things of God, they were foolishness to us (1 Corinthians 2:14) BUT GOD gave us His spirit so “that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

We were completely unrighteous and sinful (Romans 3:23) BUT GOD made Jesus “who knew no sin to become sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is good news! All of us who have trusted Christ as their savior and submitted to him as their Lord have had our current state and our future completely turned upside down by God!

There is nothing we could have done for this to happen it was only by a miraculous work of God. Romans 9:16 says “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy”

C.H. Spurgeon once remarked: "If Niagara could suddenly be made to leap upward instead of forever dashing down-ward from its rocky height, it were not such a miracle as to change the perverse will & raging passions of men. Conversion is a work comparable to the making of a world. The labors of Hercules were but trifles compared to this: to slay lions and hydras, and cleanse Augean stables-all this is child’s play compared with renewing a right spirit in the fallen nature of mankind."

I think that these three points are key to Paul’s sorrow and anguish for the lost and should be key to ours. He realized his state apart from Christ. Even though he was “Hebrew of Hebrews and as to righteousness under the law, blameless” he realized that it was all rubbish and he saw himself as what he really was. Then he realized what his just punishment should have been and finally he saw that because of Christ, he was now a new creation and a child of God. I think those 3 things contributed to his anguish for the lost. Knowing where they were heading and knowing the joy they were missing.

So three quick applications that I hope that you take from this and I hope that I take from this. First of all, for those who are in Christ, I hope that reminding ourselves of what we have been saved from and what we have been saved to, gives us a renewed sense of awe and deep gratitude and thanksgiving to God. Second of all, for those who are in Christ, I hope that realizing the state of our lost family members and friends will give us "unceasing anguish and great sorrow" for them that leads us to action in sharing with them the good news. Finally, again for those who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord. I pray that today is your day of salvation. I pray that God would open your eyes to the truth of His gospel and you will trust in Him today.

Finally, I want to end with two quotes:

"If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. - Nate Saint, two weeks before he was martyred by the Aucas

"Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we – who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not – can be saved." – Charles Spurgeon