But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. -The Apostle Paul, Galatians 6:14, ESV
The cross emphatically says that I am entirely whole, I am unconditionally loved, I am unequivocally forgiven, and I am unashamedly righteous.
As a card carrying Protestant and proponent of a biblical and reformed theology—I easily relate to the notion that I am a sinner saved by grace, so, I get the total depravity part (after all, it is the first leg under the five legged stool called Calvinism).
However, it would be the aforementioned I struggle with. I don’t feel very whole, or forgiven, or loved, or righteous. I much more readily feel like a sinner, so it is not uncommon for me to revert back to my being just that I suppose. Call me holy or call me a saint and I am liable to call you crazy. And so, when I consider the Cross I immediately see my need for it—what I don’t see so quickly, are it’s far reaching and irreversible accomplishments that impact me and change all of what I have defined myself by.
Within the theology of the Cross resides the confidence that I am God’s own. It is by virtue of the Cross I am not my own; I have been bought with a steep payment.
The Cross changes everything—and on a personal note, the Cross changes me.
wow…Understand exactly what you are saying and how you feel…a life-long struggle for me (“I much more readily feel like a sinner, so it is not uncommon for me to revert back to my being just that I suppose”)…would that I could feel differently as you have so eloquently have written…
Mr. Kennedy,
…thanks for stopping by the new blog—I think I am gonna get John hooked. He will be posting here too so stay tuned!
My life struggle too.
Ken