When we studied Jonah 2 together a few weeks ago, I ended the sermon by reading you an extended quote from Richard Lovelace's book Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal. Before I give you the quote, let me remind you that the purpose of Lovelace here is to highlight the necessity and value of justification for our everyday walk with God. Here's what he says:
"Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God's holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification, in the Augustinian manner, drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willing disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude." - Richard Lovelace
Let me draw your attention to the portion I've underlined. To truly walk with God and put sin to death, you and I need assurance of God's love for us. We are meant to live out of confidence in our relationship with Him and not to try and earn our status before Him. The order is vital and the foundation of that assurance must be secure.
Far too many of us look in all the wrong places for that assurance. Lovelace lists four of the most common. First, our sincerity before God. We think that if we are just earnest and genuine that God will accept us. We think things like, "I'm trying really hard to be a good Christian." In reality, this places the root of confidence squarely in the middle of my own heart. Second, our past experience of conversion. Maybe you distinctly remember praying to receive Christ. Maybe you look back on your baptism with fondness, and this gives your heart a surge of confidence. Maybe there was a time when you were on fire for God. Whatever the moment in your past, you look back to try and sure up your assurance before God in the present. Third, our recent religious performance. How often is this true for many of us? We base our sense of God's love and acceptance of us on our consistency in spiritual disciplines, church attendance, or just generally doing good things. Fourth, the relative infrequency of conscious, willful disobedience in my life. In other words, it's easy to grow my assurance when I don't sin in some of the obvious and dramatic ways that others do. When combined with number three, this can easily provide a lifetime worth of assurance built on the wrong foundation.
The common thread in all four of these is the self. It's my heart and feelings before God, my decision to trust Christ, my performance, and my obedience. These four point our gaze inward and ultimately lead us to trust ourselves.
The only way to truly find assurance is to look away from self and to Christ. But how do we do this? The answer is the truth of justification. This doctrine tells us that we possess the righteousness of Christ, not because of anything that we bring to the table, but purely because of Christ's work and God's grace. God declares us righteous even though we are not. As the quote above says, this is an "alien righteousness" given to us as a gift.
But looking outside of self doesn't come naturally and easy to us. Our hearts are hardwired to work and earn and depend on our own goodness. And this is precisely why we need this habit of waking up every morning and reminding ourselves of the gift of Christ's righteousness by grace. Let this be your foundation of assurance this week!