2003-01-07 - Faith and Life in Christ

Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is good will.

I would like to give you a quote that I came upon in my reading. I thought it really had some insight and depth and thus I thought I would share it with you and offer some comment. Here it is:

"To rely on Christ, and not to be weary of sin, is presumption, not faith." Samuel Rutherford

There really is a lot to pick apart in this quote. First, the presumption here is that we are resting in Christ. I know that this is like preaching to the choir, but I can't overlook this key point. We must ask ourselves if we are really relying on Jesus Christ for all our hope and trust. It is easy to glide through life thinking all is well in our walk with Christ, and yet, never be growing in that relationship. So we must all take inventory and discern where our reliance and trust in Christ really is at in our lives.

It is interesting to link relying in Christ and weariness of sin in the same concept, but it is very insightful. We need to consider if we really are weary of sin. Do we indulge secret sins? Do we harbor areas of our lives that are "untouchable" by our relationship with Christ? Does sin make us weary? A true walk with Jesus Christ will not indulge sin. Christ will either help us hinder our sinful nature or our sin will hinder our walk with Jesus Christ.

Now we get to the meat of the quote. Rutherford is essentially saying that to claim to have a Christian walk with Christ and live in sin is not to be living in faith. It is to live in presumption that God's grace is ours despite our disobedience to God's will and standards. As I read Samuel Rutherford I can often understand why the Prince of Preachers, the Baptist, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said that Rutherford's letters were the finest words ever penned by human hands outside of Scripture, which, of course, was penned by the Holy Spirit. I commend both Rutherford and Spurgeon to you as valuable reading.

However, let us sum this up. As I write this it is snowing outside. It reminds me of Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they will be like wool." I think Rutherford knew this as he wrote this statement. When it is snowing we see a white sheet that looks pure. Christ relieves us of the defilement that our sin brings and makes it white as snow. What Rutherford knew and what we should all know is that to live in sin and claim to rest in Christ is to have no snow on the ground. It is to lack the beauty and joy that faith in Christ should bring. As I have said before, I say again...let us live up to faith in Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
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