"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -Romans 8:1
"For our sake, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we may become the righteousness of God in Him." -2 Corinthians 5:21
We fall.
We fail.
We break the heart of God.
We see that we deserve God's punishment.
We feel guilt.
We beat ourselves up with self-pity.
Many times we loathe ourselves in self-pity after our failures. However big or small our failures may be, we cringe into our little corner while letting the devil accuse us in our thoughts.
Thoughts of unworthiness.
Thoughts of "God cannot love me anymore. I've totally blown it. He cannot take me back. I've gone too far."
I want to remind our brethren here that if you have failed, you are all the more welcome to come back into the presence of God. "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded ALL THE MORE" -Romans 5:20.
However, I want to deal with the issue of self-pity first before running towards God's glorious grace.
The root of self-pity....pride.
Pride that "I could've done that better. I should not have done that. I'm such a mess." I, I, I, I, My, My, My, Me, Me, Me. It is an act of manipulation in order to get other people's attention and come to your rescue. Even worse, we are trying to manipulate the hand of God to do something for us. We force ourselves to feel bad, thinking that this will appease God's anger and wrath towards us. Can you imagine how many times we thought that "If I feel guilty or self-pity, that will atone for my sins."
I want to tell you, your own tears, no matter how repentant or how bad you feel, does not atone for your sins. Your performance does not atone for your sins brethren. It is ONLY the sacrifice of our Almighty, Glorious, Majestic, and Power Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary that your sins are atoned for. He was spotless, sinless, perfect, lovely, and complete on your behalf. When we think that self-pity can atone for our sins, self-pity in itself is a sin, so might I ask why do you think that sin can atone for sin? That is absolutely absurd and blasphemous to the God who sent His only begotten Son, in order that through Christ we may know God!
It is faith alone in Christ alone. Faith in itself does not save you, it is Christ. Repentance itself cannot save you, it is Christ. Brokenness over sin itself cannot save you, it is Christ. Whatever we can perform, that performance cannot save us. Christ perfectly performed on our behalf and when He cried out, "It is Finished!" He meant it!
The only reason why God's wrath is appeased, is not because you were beating yourself up. God's wrath was appeased because Christ bore the entire wrath of God for all of your sins. Three days later after the death of Christ, He was raised for our justification! (Romans 4:25) Christ, who is All-in-all, THE SOURCE OF ALL THINGS, died! His worthiness, His perfection, His infinite glory, made it possible for the sins of all men to be atoned for. That is why when we look away from ourselves to atone for our sins and look to Christ, we see that He deserves all the glory for His sacrifice at Calvary Road. God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 6:14) If what Christ did for you is not enough, and that you feel you need to add more tears or self-affliction to it, then self-righteousness is your problem. No amount of tears can make you righteous, for in Romans 10:3-4 says, "Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." If you think that self-righteousness will atone for your sins, why are there a bunch of Pharisees in hell right now? You would boast in yourselves, for it is based upon what you do and not what the Infinite, Almighty, Sovereign King, who is from Everlasting to Everlasting, from Eternity unto Eternity, from Glory to Glory, The King of Kings, The Lord of lords, Jesus Christ our LORD has done for us all!
God help us all to know this truth, that the Lord loves us with an everlasting love, not because of us AT ALL, but because of Christ, who loved us and gave Himself up for us. -Galatians 2:20
Your Servant in Jesus' Name,
- Michael Liao