The Relinquishing Of All Pretence

What I love the most about David in Psalm 51 is that he does not try to pretend to be something he is not. Revival does not come because we too often refuse to admit our sinfulness. David acknowledges his sinful nature and that it is opposed to what God desires for each of us. That is a sanctified life of holiness and a walk with Jesus marked by biblical wisdom. Look at David’s confession:

    “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” (Psalm 51:5-6)

This is one of the few times that the KJV and even the NKJV needs some “English expansion.” David is not writing that his mother was being sinful when she conceived him, he is saying that from the moment his mother conceived him he was sinful. Why? Because all from the seed of Adam have a sinful nature.

C’mon Bro Dave, babies aren’t sinful. I know, it’s hard for me to think of my precious grandson as sinful, but it is true. That is why we teach our children how to behave, not how to be bad.

We seem to misunderstand the amazing freedom that comes from embracing the biblical truth of our sinful nature. It is as though we think our game is going to be up, or being found out will be the end of us all. It absolutely will, so the question is, who would you rather find you out? Man or Jesus? When Jesus finds you out, it may be too late. Admitting your sinful nature to a Holy God is where liberty is found. Oswald Chambers writes:

    “No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold, and in the first stages it is the relinquishing of all pretence. What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavor, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. And what does He give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. But we must relinquish all pretence of being any thing, all claim of being worthy of God’s consideration.”

Beloved, if I will not relinquish my way of looking at things, including sin, then I will never be united with Jesus Christ. Try that once more. I WILL NEVER BE UNITED WITH JESUS CHRIST. The opposite of being united with Jesus is being divided from Jesus. Therein lies our need for revival. We need to have a heavenly reunion here on earth. We need to invite Jesus back into our lives as King and Lord. This is what it means to be crucified with Christ.

    “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Why is that so hard for me to do? Because of the awful realization I must come to about myself. Chambers continues:

    “There is always a sharp painful disillusionment to go through before we do relinquish. When a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ. When he sees himself in the light of the Lord, the shame and the horror and the desperate conviction come home.”

The awful nature of the pride of my own heart against Jesus Christ; that is what keeps me from revival. I do not, as a blood-bought, born-again believer, want to have to admit that my pride keeps me from holiness in Christ. That is not who I am as a Christian! Wrong, that is exactly who I am as a Christian without Christ’s preeminence in my life. I’m an orphan, a vagabond without a home or family.

I need a heavenly reunion on earth.

I need revival.

Then and only then can Jesus begin His purifying work in me.

More on that tomorrow.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

“If you’re receiving these devotionals for the first time and would like to receive them on a regular basis, please click here and use “Please add to Devotional List” as the subject.”

    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

Tags

, , , , , , , ,