There are two things about today's entry which bring a controversy to the forefront. The first thing is the religious history of Scotland, the land of Chambers which has been a "Calvinistic" Protestant region from very early Protestantism in Scotland. The other thing is how the entry turns leaves open the idea of losing a salvation once received. The two do not go well together, and while I have not read something of Chambers which indicates he was of the Calvinistic bent (no losing salvation once gained; the "I" in TULIP for "Irresistible Grace"), but being a schooled theologian from Scotland, I thought it very likely.
But there is also the problem that Chambers my not have been referring to the loss of salvation. He writes of facing my Master and telling Him no once commanded. If I were to do that, he says that "I have begun the death warrant of the Son of God in my soul." This sounds as if he is saying that the Son of God in my soul can die, or I can lose that relationship having had it. If that were the case, then I would then fall into the reference in Hebrews where the writer says that once lost, it cannot be regained (Hebrews 6:1-6). What if, though, Chambers were referring to the work of the Spirit of my Master, not my relationship with my Master?
If the relationship with my Master is so fragile that ranting of my childish self-centered soul can extinguish it, then I am in peril. If, on the other hand, Chambers speaks of the work done by my Master in recreating me more in His image, then I can imagine being damaged by the same childish self-centered ranting. Children are especially destructive rather than creative, regardless of what kindergarten art teachers tell us. Their creativity seems to be channeled into destructive pursuits when used. So, being childish I can destroy a lot of work done in my life.
As the writer of Hebrews writes in 6:1, let us move on to more mature matters, which he describes as enduring to the end (v. 11). Because freedom, while so prized among Americans, is really of limited importance to a believer, or at least to me. I know for a fact, a fact grounded in my adult history, that I am a slave. The only choice I make as a slave is which master I serve, not to not be a slave. I have served two masters for years. I have been enslaved to an addiction to sin, an idolatrous fascination. I have hated it, but still served it. I know my freedom is illusory. I have been returned to the garden to make a choice, but I still have only two trees from which to choose.
I want to endure to the end in the choice in which I now live. It has been seven months, and I have endured; a mere drop in the ocean of time I have followed my sinful desires. I have so far to go, but I have hope now that I did not have before. I have hope, not in my own ability to endure, but in my Master's power to keep me. Instead of focusing on not following my desires (which would be to re-idolize them), I focus on my Master and obeying Him. Doing that, it becomes His work to keep me from the old master of my sin. And, to date, He has. Today is another work day with a short commute, but today is also another opportunity to give into my other master. I choose to face my True Master and obey, but to also wait, worship, and walk before Him until He commands further.
No comments:
Post a Comment