{"id":1084,"date":"2009-06-16T07:39:50","date_gmt":"2009-06-16T07:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2009-06-16T07:39:50","modified_gmt":"2009-06-16T07:39:50","slug":"rejoice-you-have-been-cleansed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/2009\/06\/16\/rejoice-you-have-been-cleansed\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoice, you have been cleansed"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some of us, this<\/a> exhortation from Leithart is like the wiping a thick layer of grime off the windows to find a sun blazing behind them again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In it’s entirety:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWith what disgust, contempt, and hatred Christ must look upon every second of our lives, the reviewing of which must be a long torture for us, were such a judgment in our future!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These are the words of a Presbyterian minister, writing in a prominent evangelical magazine. <\/span>He\u2019s trying to refute the belief that we\u2019ll be judged according to works at the last day. <\/span>He\u2019s wrong on that point. <\/span>Paul says clearly and repeatedly that everyone will be judged according to his works. <\/span>But that\u2019s not my main interest this morning. <\/span>My interest is the attitude this writer attributes to Jesus.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you think Jesus is filled with \u201cdisgust, contempt, and hatred . . . every second of our lives\u201d? <\/span>Many Christians do, and there are others who want to reinforce that view. <\/span>Job\u2019s friends did. <\/span>They posed as \u201ccomforters\u201d but they were really little \u201csatans,\u201d accusers more interested in convicting than comforting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Job\u2019s response is not meekly to turn over and take it. <\/span>His response is not, \u201cWell, you\u2019ve got a point there. <\/span>I admit I\u2019m totally depraved.\u201d <\/span>His response is to deny their accusations and defend himself. <\/span> <\/span>That should be our response too. <\/span>But how? <\/span>We know how sinful we are, how often we fail and fall. <\/span>How can we defend ourselves with the same confidence as Job?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The answer will come in a few moments, as it comes every week in the liturgy. <\/span>As we enter the Lord\u2019s presence, we first need to be cleansed by confessing our sins. <\/span>When we\u2019ve confessed, the Father tells us how he regards us, and He doesn\u2019t express disgust, contempt, or hatred. <\/span>What He expresses is free and absolute forgiveness, love, favor, brotherly kindness, mercy. <\/span>Because you are in the Son, \u201cHe forgives you all<\/em> your sins.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the accusations come, don\u2019t grovel and don\u2019t let yourself be manipulated. <\/span>Instead: Remember the words of absolution and realize that even more than Job you have grounds to protest your innocence. <\/span>Remember the declaration of forgiveness, and believe that in Christ your sins are completely, utterly gone. <\/span>Remember that you have been cleansed, silence the satans, and know that Jesus Christ by His Spirit is the true Comforter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The next time some sophisticated theological accuser, some Confessional satan, wants to convict you of sin, you\u2019ve got a choice: Believe the accuser, or believe God.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some of us, this exhortation from Leithart is like the wiping a thick layer of grime off the windows to find a sun blazing behind them again. In it’s entirety: \u201cWith what disgust, contempt, and hatred Christ must look upon every second of our lives, the reviewing of which must be a long torture … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Rejoice, you have been cleansed”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1085,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}