Note To Self

by Joe Thorn

The inspiration and authority of the Scriptures are of value to us only so far as we change our beliefs to conform to its principles and alter our behavior to coincide with its imperatives.

Preaching to ourselves is the personal act of applying the law and the gospel to our own lives with the aim of experiencing the transforming grace of God leading to ongoing faith, repentance, and greater godliness.

This renewed interest in preaching the gospel to ourselves is good, but the gospel will remain cloudy, if not irrelevant, to us if we do not understand the law of God.

Essentially, the law shows us three things: it shows us what’s right, what’s wrong, and what’s needed.

One of the primary ways we can do this is by asking a lot of questions, not just of the text, but of ourselves. What does God require of me? Since God wants more than superficial, external obedience, what internal qualities are required to keep this law well? How do I keep this law externally but not internally? How do I feel about this command?

Therefore preaching to ourselves puts us into a cycle of law and gospel where we move from our guilt and need to God’s grace and provision and then back to the law as joyful and free obedience.

But as with all of the commands of God, you must not only see what God asks of you but also how he has met that need himself in the gospel on your behalf.

You must learn, relearn, and remember your Savior’s love and sacrifice for the wicked, the rebellious, the black-hearted—for people like you. And when you see the Holy One’s sacrificial love for you, you not only see what love looks like, but also you find strength and power to love like him.

The problem with this kind of worldly fear is that it will lead you to toe party lines instead of correcting and challenging the people you are close to.

What should you fear in life above a holy God who forgives the sins of unholy men like yourself? What can be taken from you? Your possessions can go up in flames, but you have treasure in heaven and stand to inherit the kingdom.

What this means for you is to remember that God does not answer to you or to your theology. You answer to him and can rest on what he has revealed of himself in his Word.

The truth is you won’t stop judging others until you stop seeing yourself as a measure of righteousness.

Your refusal to forgive one who has sinned against you is a manifestation of hypocrisy—a telltale sign that either you have not experienced God’s forgiving grace, or that you take such grace for granted.

If you want to be useful to God, you will need to be the person who moves first. You have to take the initiative to move toward the people God has put into your life and the people God has sent you to. Most will not come to your church’s worship gathering, most will not seek out your advice, and most will not strike up a conversation with you. You will have to go to them.

God has put certain people in your life and will lead others across your path to encourage and correct you. The problem is that much of the time you just are not listening.

So the local church must be more than a weekly event. It needs to be your covenant community and extended family who have the right and privilege to exhort you—to speak into your life when you need it most.

To be a disciple of Jesus you must belong to and work with, for, and through the local church.

You simply cannot survive spiritually on a weekly worship service, podcasts, and books. You need the community more than you probably realize. You can’t make it alone; nor can anyone else.

And what about your own sin? Do you see it? Is it ever before your eyes? Do you really hate it for what it is, or do you simply dislike its unpleasant consequences? If you hate your sin only because of the pain it has caused you in this life, then your hatred stems from self-love and does not come from a burning love for God.

You seem to think that your sins will somehow die of old age. It’s as if you believe you can wait them out, and they will eventually grow weak and fail. But the truth is your sin ages more like an oak tree. If you aren’t chopping it down, its roots are growing deeper, and its branches are growing stronger.

You need to stop comparing yourself to others and begin considering the ways pride manifests itself in your life.

Pride is why you rage, lust, covet, steal, and lie. You do these things because you believe you deserve what you don’t have. This kind of pride denies God and others the place they should have in your life.

What you need is a clear picture of God, yourself, and your hope; and this only comes through law and gospel. You must see yourself as you really are—creature, not Creator; sinful, not righteous; undeserving, not deserving; dependent, not independent; made for his glory, not for your own. And you must know God as holy, just, good, gracious, and merciful, who saves all who trust in him, and not in themselves. This is the theology that erodes pride, builds humility, and produces joy.