“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
“He will render to each one according to his works…
“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Romans 2:1-6,13
Pride and lip service harden many a heart. From knowing the plain truth of God and refusing it for love of self and sin, to indulgence in all manner of dishonor, man has distanced himself from the sweet communion God intends. Still, His mercy comes, beckoning response. Presuming upon repeated forgiveness without genuine repentance makes for precarious standing before the Almighty. (Romans 1:18-21,24,28; 2:7-11)
As sinners saved by grace, we can be tempted to assume the Lord makes light of our ‘occasional faltering.’ Surely as sin rages, grace abounds, but never with the intention of carelessness before the holy Judge. Are we to go on sinning that grace may abound? May it never be! He disdains cocky smugness. (Romans 5:20-6:2; 11:20-22)
Presuming upon God’s rich kindness and forbearance to indulge sloth and carelessness is shortsighted and wrong. It sets self as all-important and sin as unimportant and ignores the supremacy of Christ. He is sovereign, we are not, and we must guard against inverted man-centered thinking. Taking hold of His patient and daily mercies to renounce sin and renew devotion honors His benevolence. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
What if we beheld and received His mercy for the spiritual wealth it bestows? What if we allowed its grace and reordering to seep deep into conscience and will to purify our affections and wandering? What benefit to our outlook and determination could be manifest if we surrendered arrogance and indulgences? From a realistic perspective of self and a high view of God, will we invest His kindness in these actions? (Romans 6:12-14)
“Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” ~Robert Robinson (1758)
Lord, may I presume upon Your mercies only to inspire wholehearted devotion and worship, and may I honor You with every benefit You bestow.
As the rain and snow 