Most of us have tried to pack a present in a box that wouldn’t fit. The gospel is that way. We just can't contain it. We never really grasp it. As Paul says, because of the vastness of its dimensions, God's love for his people "surpasses knowledge."

“16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” ~ Eph. 3:16-19

Getting grace is like knowing God. The finite seeking to understand the infinite. Yes, God is knowable, but not exhaustively knowable. The same is true with the gospel. 

I heard someone say recently that we may be aware of about 4% of our sin, which means we probably get (and this is in my opinion a great overstatement) 4% of God's grace. This means we have plenty of gospel learning to do—which means we have plenty of gospel preaching and hearing to do. 

So, if you are a preacher, lift up the cross of Jesus tomorrow and give them pure, undilluted, unmixed grace. Give them Jesus.

And if you will be attending a gathering of believers, listen well. Listen for the cross and believe. Listen for grace and believe. Listen for the Savior and believe, so that "you may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."

From the apostle Paul to the Puritans to modern day grace preachers, we learn that the more mature we get as Christians, the more we will see our sin. This does not mean that we necessarily will sin more, but that we will become more aware of various actions and motives as sinful, that before we had not recognized as sinful. We either had been blinded to them or made excuses for them. But now, as an act of grace, the Holy Spirit reveals a greater depth to our sinfulness, which also reveals to us a new depth to our need for a Savior.

It will be like going into an old attic with a flashlight and discovering that there is far more junk up there than you ever realized. There is not more junk up there. With the flashlight, you can just see it more clearly. That is one aspect of how sanctification works.

1. God gives us an increasingly larger and more powerful "spiritual flashlight" in order to see our need for Jesus in more dramatic ways.
2. Then the Spirit shines the flashlight onto the cross so that we can see the extent of our redemption in more dramatic ways.
3. As that happens, beholding the glory of the Lord in the gospel, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who gives us new motives and a new power for living a new life—not in order to be saved (that is moralism), but because we already are saved. 

So, ironically, the more I mature as a believer, the less mature I probably feel.  Again, note Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15-17. There will be much more pain in looking deeply into my heart, but there is also much more joy in looking up to the cross. This is the formula that results in "coming alive to the wonder of the gospel." 

In his well-known book, Human Nature in Its Fourfold State, the Scottish pastor, Thomas Boston (1676–1732) describes the four states of human nature as integrity (before the fall), depravity (after the fall), recovery (after redemption), and consummation (consummate happiness or misery, depending on one's response to the gospel).

These four states correspond to Augustine's teaching in the early 5th century, where he defined these states using some fun Latin words:

• The state of integrity means that we were able to sin and able not to sin (posse peccare, posse non peccare).
• The state of depravity means that we are not able not to sin (non posse non peccare).
• The state of recovery means that we are able not to sin (posse non peccare). However, due to the remaining, indwelling sin nature (the flesh), we also are still able to sin. This is the focus of the message last Sunday from Romans 7:7-25.
• The final state of consummation means that believers will be unable to sin (non posse peccare). This is

A more modern way to say this is to understand the four states as 

• Creation 
• Fall/rebellion 
• Redemption 
• Consummation

Every human experiences creation and rebellion. Only those who receive the gift of the gospel through faith experience redemption. How we experience the consummation of history depends on whehter or not we receive the gift of redemption through faith. 

So, have you experienced the third state? If you are unsure, please feel free to contact me. I'd be delighted to discuss it further with you. 

Note that what Paul says here is in the present tense, not the past. He is describing his "now" need for the gospel, not his "then" need. This is so hopeful for a sinner like me.  

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." ~ 1 Tim. 1:15-16

In The Letters of Francis Schaeffer, he writes to a woman named Sharon:

"Christianity is not a religion for the mentally healthy. Rather, ever since the Fall, none of us are totally mentally healthy, any more than any of us are totally physically well... Christianity is for weak people just as we are... We must honor Christ and his finished work by bringing our failure [and weakness] under the work of Christ and leaving them there. When we do less than this, we are dishonoring Christ and his finished work—as though his finished work is enough for some things, but not enough for my weakness and sin."

I find this helpful. May we take our sin and brokenness to the cross and leave it there, going on with a heart full of praise and thanksgiving for the Savior, knowing that his atonement as our substitute is full and complete—more than enough for every aspect of weakness and sin.

The blood of Jesus has rescued and freed me from my sins (1 Peter 1:19; Rev. 1:5)

The blood of Jesus removes my guilt (1 Peter 1:2)

The blood of Jesus cleanses my conscience (Heb. 9:14)

The blood of Jesus brings me near to God (Eph. 2:13)

The blood of Jesus provides access to God through prayer (Heb. 10:19)

The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse me from continual sin (1 Jn. 1:7)

The blood of Jesus enables me to oversome the accuser (Rev. 12:11)

Here is TFL 3, "Restoring a Glorious Ruin."

Tfl 3 • Restoring A Glorious Ruin by Mckay Caston

(download)

Click here to download:

TFL 3 • Restoring a Glorious Ruin.mp3 (12.93 MB)

Click here to download:

TFL-3.a glorious ruin - handout.pdf (27 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

TFL-3.a glorious ruin - handout.pdf (27 KB)

In his classic, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis talks about The Great Sin. Concerning this sin, he says, "the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others." What is this great, ultimate, most devastating of all sins? Pride, or self-conceit. Lewis goes on:

Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind... Pride is essentially competitive... [It] gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better looking than others... It is the comparison that makes you proud... It is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery of every nation and every family since the world began...

How is it that pepople who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very [spiritual]? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people...

We have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good—above all, better than someone else—I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil... It is a terrible thing that the worst of all vices can smuggle itself into the very centre of our [spiritual] life.

If you meet a really humble man... Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily.

So what are we to do?  The first step, Lewis says, "is to realize that one is proud... If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." The good news is that the gospel invites us to confess our prideful passion for self-glory, cast it upon the cross, and receive the gift-righteousness of Jesus as our real, genuine glory. Gospel faith is the only antidote for the disease. It fosters true humility and illuminates the wonder of God's grace. So let your great sin lead you to the great Savior!