The Gift of Failure

roadsign wrote:
The following meditation is taken from:
NO GOOD THING
By Chip Brogden

"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:75, NKJV).

Jesus was not surprised or disappointed when Peter failed. In like manner, He is not surprised or disappointed when you fail. Rather, He is waiting for you to fail so you will be reduced to Him. He has no illusions about you and He knows you through and through. He knows however much your spirit may be willing, your flesh is weak. Our weakness is not the trouble - the trouble is our unwillingness to acknowledge the weakness.

That is so true. Not merely weakness but fear of admitting, even to ourselves, that we cannot [i][u]of ourselves[/u][/i] resist temptation.

Paul has no confidence in the flesh, so he can say, "I rejoice in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor.12:9b). But we do not rejoice in our weakness the way Paul does. We either refuse to admit it, or we hide it, or we try to improve upon it, or we try to make up for it by overcompensating in some other area.

Been there done that. In my case it took the form of over-compensation because I never was very good at deceiving myself that I [i]was[/i] good!

People will fight and argue with me on this point because they desperately want to salvage something for themselves. They have a fragile self-esteem and this kind of news is too painful too bear.

True "death to self" involves accepting this fact, that we can of ourselves do nothing to make ourselves holy. Pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps doesn't work, and sometimes only bitter failure can truly convince us of this fact. Only then can we become willing to let go of self and trust in HIM.

But I bring you good tidings of great joy, dear Christian friend! This failure of Self is the very key to living the Christian life. As painful as it is, the bitter tears of failure provide the water for nurturing the Precious Seed that is planted in your heart of hearts and making it grow. To despair of ourselves is the very key that opens the door to all the power, the victory, and fruitfulness in Christ that we seek.

Yes indeed! Because original sin was [i][u]the desire to live a life independent of God[/u][/i]. It also involved deciding for ourselves what was right and what was wrong, and [i][u]trusting in our own strength[/u][/i] to do the right.

"I KNOW that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing." I KNOW IT, Paul says. No good thing. I know that in me, in my flesh, in my Self, there is nothing. Apart from Him I am nothing. He is Everything. CHRIST IN ME is my only Hope. In one part of me, my flesh, dwells no good thing. In the other part of me Christ lives.

To me the one key flaw in the doctrine of "entire sanctification" as it's usually presented, is the misunderstanding of this. The idea that we can be anything good, in and of ourselves, is false. Rather [i][u][b]we must learn to become partakers of His holiness[/b][/u][/i], day by day, moment by moment.

That way, self is relegated to its rightful place. As I have said before, childlike trust and obedience - even trust in the Lord to supply HIS obedience - is the only way forward.

Blessings

Jeannette

roadsign wrote:

I think Christians sometimes mistake failure with sin. They are not necessarily synonymous.

How would you apply this to Peter's denial of Christ - and the meditation posted here?
Do you think Brodgen has missed the point?

Diane

Hi Diane

Personally, I don't think that he has missed the point. It's true that sin and failure are not identical, but the writer doesn't mention this because he is striking at the root of the tree, not the branches. Self is root of both our failure and our sin. Peter was determined to "do it himself", (he didn't then understand that there could be another way) which led to the over-compensation of boasting of his loyalty to Jesus, and his despair when he failed to live up to his high words and intentions. It later led to his attempt to defend Jesus by fighting when He was arrested - again over-conpensation.

Blessings

Jeannette