Watson said this so well that I'm going to leave it in his capable hands. This is humbling, encouraging, and (missions) stimulating all at the same time!
THE LOT OF FREE GRACE!
By Thomas Watson from "A New Creature"
"Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
The new creature is a work of free grace. There is nothing in us, to cause God to make us anew. By nature we are full of pollution and enmity—yet now God forms the new creature. Behold the banner of love displayed! The new creature may say, "By the grace of God I am what I am!" In the creation, we may see the strength of God's arm; in the new creature, we may see the working of God's heart! That God should consecrate any heart, and anoint it with grace—is an act of pure love! That He should pluck one out of the state of nature, and not another—must be resolved into sovereign grace! This will increase the saint's triumphs in heaven, that the lot of free grace should fall upon them—and not on others.
The new creature is a work of rare excellency. A natural man is a lump of dirt and sin mixed together. God loathes him! But upon the new creature is a spiritual glory—as if a piece of clay, was turned into a sparkling diamond!
Those are not new creatures, who continue in their sins and are resolved so to do. These are in the gall of bitterness, and are the most miserable creatures that ever God made—except for the devils. These stand in the place where all God's arrows fly! These are the center where all God's curses meet!
An unregenerate person is like one in debt—who is in fear of being arrested by death, and carried prisoner to hell! Can that traitor be happy—who is fed by his prince in prison—only to be kept alive for his execution? God feeds the wicked like prisoners. They are reserved for the day of wrath!
1 comment:
That was disturbing imagery at the end, although true. The following are my thoughts:
Romans 9:22 - "And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction?"
This is frightful to a most terrifying degree! However, that God would surely punish the sins of the unregenerate is quite the reality, as seen in Rev.20:11-15 as well as other places. Also, the work of God in us as the regenerate - which I assume to be a work of grace as well - to create a compassion and love so great that it would compel us to share the Gospel is also quite the miracle because of who we were (Eph.2:3).
We MUST and we WILL go in a Biblical fashion if and only if we truly belong to Him. Let us as the bride experience true intimacy with our God as we lift up the Savior in evangelistical zeal.
joey
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