He saw every wicked thought that would run through our minds, every distorted desire that would pulse in our hearts, and every twisted deed that would pass from our hands, and still he said, “You will be holy and blameless before me” (Ephesians 1:4). He saw the worst about us - even those parts of us that we are yet to discover. God was under no illusions about our loveliness. Book of the Slain Lambīefore the foundation of the world, God planned to conquer all our sins. If you have tasted God’s grace in Christ, and long to enjoy more of him, but carry the awful weight of sin, know this: God will conquer all your sins.
I needed to remember that my holiness does not rest on my frail shoulders, but rather on God’s almighty resolve, from eternity past forever into the future, to make me blameless before him (Colossians 1:22). In moments like those, I needed to remember what God had promised about my sins. I began to resonate with John Newton in his hymn “ I Asked the Lord”: I prayed for more holiness, more faith, more love, but often, God seemed to answer by illuminating new corners of darkness in the cavern of my flesh. The eagles’ wings faltered, leaping turned into walking, and some sins became besetting. I leapt from one degree of glory to another.īut then sanctification slowed.
I didn’t know holiness would be so hard-won.Īs with many new believers, I enjoyed sudden victory over some of the sins that had marked my unbelieving life.
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