A New Attitude
What does Jesus require? What doth the Lord require of thee? He has redeemed us from the power of sin not because we were deserving of forgiveness. He loved us when we were unloveable. Not because of who we are but because of who He is. Love, mercy and grace are the nature of God himself.
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus presented a new approach to our attitudes of heart. The beatitudes are the “beautiful attitudes” that will set our hearts free.
Pete recalls that while he was playing baseball in North Carolina, Suzan came to visit him. Suzan knew that she had to make a decision about what direction her life would take. She had decided to finally break off their relationship. They had broken up so many times before that she was concerned about Pete’s reaction. Suzan told him that she had met a new beau in Mexico named Armando. He wooed her lovingly with dignity, respect, and kindness. Armando was genuinely interested in her and demonstrated his affection by wining and dining her. He even played the guitar and serenaded her with beautiful Spanish songs.
Suzan expected Pete to respond in a fit of jealous rage. This would have been the “old Pete’s” response. But while Suzan had been in Mexico, Pete had dedicated his life to Christ. He had read the book, “The Bobby Richardson Story” about the life of an All Star Yankee second baseman who was also a devout Christian. When Pete read this book, he had prayed, “Lord, I know I’m not the man you created me to be. Lord please make me that man.” At that moment Pete had a complete change of heart.
Suzan was taken aback by Pete’s gracious response. She said, “I still want to date you but I want to spend a week with Armando when he comes to visit me from Mexico City.” Pete said, “Let me get this straight. You want to move to this town to be near me. You want to date me, but then you want to leave me to spend a week with Armando while he’s in town? I may be a new Christian, but even I know there’s something wrong with this picture.” Suzan was confused. She thought it would be easy to break up with Pete and move on with her new life. Instead she found herself in a quandary… falling in love with the new man that Pete had become. In her confusion, she finally said, “Well then, why don’t we just get married?” Pete said, “I’ll need to pray about that.” He prayed for about two seconds for God to confirm his decision. Then he answered, “Okay, let’s get married.”
By grace, God had changed Suzan’s heart. According to Romans 5:20, where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Ephesians 2:8 says, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In order to understand the meaning of redemption and reconciliation by God’s grace, we must first understand that from which we were forgiven.
The root of sin is an attitude of pride. In our pride we have accumulated a resentment bank that says, “people have wronged me and never made it right.” One man said in a counseling session, “My wife doesn’t respect me.” Pete asked him, “Are you respectable?” It’s much easier to see the sin in others without recognizing the sin of resentment in our own hearts. The sin problem is that we see the sin in others while being blinded to the bigger sin… judging others for having wronged us. Jesus said, “how can you see to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye, when you have a two by four in your own eye.” The two by four is resentment, unforgiveness, and judgementalism… The things that blind us to the love of God. How do you “yank the plank?” How do you cast the two by four out of your own eye?
When God justifies us by the payment His son Jesus Christ paid on our behalf, he casts our sin as far is the east is from the west and remembers them no more. When we’re saved by His grace through his son’s sacrifice for sin, we are made the righteousness of Christ.
The word sin means to miss the mark. However, the emphasis of the word sin is not on the missing but on the mark itself. The mark is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The devil’s ploy is to remind us how far short of the mark we fall. But if we confess our sins, our broken fellowship, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
According to the beatitudes, forgiveness starts with humility. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jeremiah 24:7 says I will put it in your hearts to humble yourselves to know me. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, returning to God begins with a heart humbled before the Lord: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
The Old Testament law of sin and death showed God’s people that in themselves, they could not keep his righteous commandments. When people try to prove righteousness in their own power, then God allows them to reap the consequences of their self serving sin nature.
Jesus said, if you’re bringing an offering before God and have an issue against your brother, first go reconcile with your brother. Then you can come back and offer your sacrifice to God with a pure and clean heart of forgiveness.
As needy men of God, our need is to ask forgiveness and give forgiveness. This is why Jesus said in his model prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Without a heart that forgives others, we cannot approach God’s throne of grace with a pure heart of meekness and humility. Without forgiving others, our heart says, Jesus’ death on my behalf was not sufficient. The unforgiving heart is an unforgiven heart.
I forgave and set the prisoner free, only to find that the prisoner was me. The greatest freedom is in allowing the Lord to captivate our hearts: Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free…. Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be. I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand. Imprison me within thine arms and free shall be my stand.
That with a heart of humility and forgiveness…
…We may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
