One-Two Punch

Romans 3:10-18 "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Honestly, these verses have always troubled me. I understand them intellectually but in the back of my mind, I just didn't get it. As a child, I was fairly religious. I participated in youth group and even tried to read the Bible for a season (I usually fell asleep before long). I did good things like helping my mother or refrained from drinking at the high school parties. I prayed pretty regularly. In my mind, I was seeking after God. I was a "good girl."

One morning, I was reading and praying through Romans 3:9-30. All the care group participants from church are meditating on this Scripture for the month of November. As I was praying through it, I found myself saying, "Lord, I don't see how these verses really apply to me. I know they are true, but I don't get it. Forgive me, Lord, for thinking that I did seek you, that I did do good, that I did anything whatsoever that could be deemed righteous. But, Lord, it feels like I did; show me Your truth."

Later that afternoon, I was again reading Paul Tripp's book: Whiter than Snow*, when I came across this quote. "Why is Genesis 6:5 so hard to accept? [The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.-my insertion] Why do we spontaneously rise to our own defense? Why are you and I devastated when our weakness, sin, and failure are pointed out? ...Why do we erect self-justifying arguments for what we have said or done? ...We find this all so hard to accept because we studiously hold onto the possibility that we're more righteous than the Bible describes us to be. When we look into the mirror of self-appraisal, the person we tend to see is a person who is more righteous that any of us actually is...Each one of us needs grace that's not only big enough to forgive our sin, but also powerful enough to free us from the self-atoning prison of our own righteousness. We're not only held captive by our sin, but also by the delusion of our righteousness."

The Lord answered my prayer. He showed me His truth. I am held captive by the delusion of my own righteousness. The only way out of my captivity is the blood of Jesus Christ, the only True Righteous One.

Diane

* I highly recommend Dr. Tripp's book, which is available through the KESWICK on-line bookstore.
http://www.americaskeswick.org/233853.ihtml