Friday: Further Thought ~ Turn Their Hearts

Further Thought:

“At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. It is to those whom the Lord has forgiven, to those whom He acknowledges as His people, that He says, ‘Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight.’ Eze: 36:31.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Again He says, ‘I will establish My covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.’ Eze: 16:62, Eze 16:63. Then our lips will not be opened in self-glorification. We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone. We shall make the apostle’s confession our own. ‘I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.’ Romans 7:18. ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.’ Galatians 6:14.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pages 160, 161.

“‘The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.’ Romans 2:4. A golden chain, the mercy and compassion of divine love, is passed around every imperiled soul. The Lord declares, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.’ Jeremiah 31:3.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 202.

Discussion Questions:

Though we must repent, how can we be careful to avoid the trap of making repentance as something meritorious, as if the act of repenting itself is what makes us right before God? What is the only way we can be right before God?
“Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:3-5). No doubt Judas was sorry for what he did to Jesus (after all, he killed himself). Why, though, are his actions not deemed as true repentance?
How should the reality of human sinfulness, even our own sinfulness, keep us humble before others (in that we don’t judge them) and before God? Why should the fact that it took the cross, i.e., the death of the Son of God, to save us, to show us just how bad sin really is?

<–Thursday

Amen!