CHRIST’S REDEEMING LOVE
Jer. 13:23
"Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil."
We
have all heard it said that "a leopard can’t change its spots;" well
Jeremiah applies that same truth to a sinner's nature and character. Can
a sinner overcome his tendency to sin? Habits can be dealt with; mistakes
can be avoided, but the reality is that true righteousness cannot be produced
by an act of human will. The plain fact is that unless Christ is powerful
enough, and faithful enough, and merciful enough to change us we will
remain the same.
A Christian is not a “self-made man.” Consider 2 Cor. 5:17
which says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come!” Notice the little word “if.”
That means there is a condition. And the condition is that the person be
"in Christ." It is only through Christ that God makes a new
creature from the old man. It is only the power of His love that melts
the heart of stone and makes it a heart of flesh. It is only the power of
His Gospel that converts sinners into the saints of God!
Education, heritage, wealth, power, and religiosity: these are all
things that people hope will prove adequate to make them pleasing to God.
Paul is a good study, because, even before his conversion, he had all of these
things. But even his great education didn’t enable Paul to understand
God’s grace. Paul was a descendent of Abraham but that by itself didn't
make him a child of God. Paul was a Jewish leader and a citizen of Rome
but he was not a citizen of the kingdom of God. And, even though he lived as a
Pharisee, Paul’s good works were nothing more than filthy rags in the eyes of
God.
It was only a real-life encounter with the risen Christ that changed
Paul from sinner to saint. And we have to remember, that encounter was initiated
by Jesus Himself; it wasn’t an example of Paul suddenly making a right choice.
Paul’s conversion was the direct result of Christ’s redeeming love, a love
powerful enough to change darkness into light and death into life.
Pastor Keith Andrews