Oh to Grace how great a debtor...
Oh, to grace how great a debtorThink through those words carefully. They are beautiful beyond imagination...well, beyond mine at least. My debt to Grace is SOOOO great. Every day I accumulate new debt...but not of the overwhelming, burdening kind.
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, oh, take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
--Words by Robert Robertson, 1758
No, God's grace FREES ME. ("You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.") He unburdens me. He breaks the bonds of slavery to sin (daily). He raptures my SOUL DAILY into his presence (if I am willing to go there). And enraptures ME in the process.
Leslie Phillips sings on "Black & White in a Grey World":
Waiting for angry words to sear my soulWhere does that phrase come from?? It comes from Paul's systematic theological explanation of the need and providence of God's salvation:
Knowing I don't deserve another chance
Suddenly the kindest words I've ever heard
Come flooding from God's heart
(Chorus)
It's your kindness that leads us
To repentance Oh Lord
Knowing that You love us
No matter what we do
Makes us want to love You too
Romans 2:4 NIV Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?Paul deals with the necessity of slavery: either to God or to sin. So Robert Robertson writes "Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee." Mr. Robertson responds to Paul's theme of the struggle between the sin nature and the redeemed nature of man when he writes "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the one I love." He responds to that with the only sensible solution: "Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."
That echoes Paul's belief statement on the security of the believer in 2 Timothy 1:12b: "...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."
What we often miss is the context where he says that:
2 Timothy 1:8-12 NIV So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy lifeānot because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.Paul suffered but was not ashamed BECAUSE he knows who he believes and BECAUSE he trusts God--despite the trouble--to hold onto HIM. I have to admit that my faith was/is weaker than Paul on this point. There are times when I have felt ashamed over the suffering...because my lack of understanding grew to the point of distrust. But I remain convinced (based in part on this testimony by Paul) that God continues to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
And that is precisely the point of Grace. The Law can't accomplish what Grace can accomplish. Only Grace can accomplish the revelation of God's incredible love. The Law reveals his holiness and his requirements. And it stands to affirm that sinful man is without ANY hope once in the hands of an angry and righteous God.
Without any hope except for one: that God is not arbitrary or whimsical and that his essential nature is to express Love through Grace in order to redeem us.
Therefore: "Oh to Grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!!"
2 Comments:
this is one hymn that often breaks into my mind and heart and sings itself to me--amazing to recall that there was a time when i had no appreciation for it tho' i have known the Author of grace for over a half-century!
That is exactly what happened to me that led me to writing this article. That song started singing itself to me (I even used that terminology when I thought about it.)
Thanks for sharing that! Gives me goosebumps.
Post a Comment
<< Home