In Romans Chapter 2 Paul blasts the religiously priviledged who were quite content to point out the large sins of the heathen among them instead of making sure that their own hearts were right with God.
My Life Application Bible warns very clearly (and accurately!)....
Those of us who have grown up in Christian families are the religiously privileged of today.
It is so easy for those of us who have grown up in Christian families not to see the holiness of God clearly. I already posted on this here at my own blog, but this just seems to be such a recurring theme for me during this year's reading and studying of the Bible.
In his book Gospel-Powered Parenting, William P Farley devotes an entire chapter to explaining how our fear of God, as parents, impacts our parenting.....
the fear of God is the key to effective parenting. What the cross teaches us about God's holiness provokes Christian parents to fear God. As we have seen, the greatest display of God's holiness is not in the Old Testament. It is in the New Testament. It is at the cross. What transpired at the cross, properly understood, is the reason to fear God.....
the cross motivates Christian parents to pursue their own personal holiness....the cross motivates parents to hate sin, first in themselves, then in their children....
the cross gives us an eternal perspective....
the holiness of God, demonstrated at the cross, makes parents decisive...the cross teaches parents to never presume upon the grace of God. The cross motivate the passive parent to decisive action....
the holiness of God, demonstrated at the cross, makes both parents and children needy. It convinces us that salvation cannot be earned. It motivates us to joyfully pursue our salvation in Christ alone.
In their book How People Change, Lane and Tripp insightfully write: "One of the reasons teenagers are not excited by the gospel is that they do not think they need it. Many parents have successfully raised self-righteous little Phrarisees. When they look at themselves, they do not see a sinner in desperate need, so they are not grateful for a Saviour." Children raised by diligent parents immersed in the holiness of God are not apt to share this problem.
These five benefits can be summed up with one phrase - the fear of God. "But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word" Isaiah 66:2 The fear of God introduces us to these three virtues. It humbles us. It motivates contrition and trembling at God's Word. God looks at the parents with these virtues and blesses their efforts...
the cross convinces us that God is holy. The fear of God is a by-product of living at the foot of the cross. Blessed is the child whose parents possess it.
Until we understand our sin, until we understand God's holiness and intolerance for sin of any kind - we will not understand His grace or His love.
A proper understanding and experience of the fear of God is crucial, not only for our salvation, but for the salvation of our children.
Tomorrow's passage: Romans 5-8:17
1 comment:
It's interesting how this subject has popped up in my prayer time over the last few weeks. I find myself praying for myself and for others on my list each day ~ those who've grown up surrounded by Christians, hearing and speaking Christian-ese ~ that OUR eyes would be opened and that we wouldn't think studying and learning more isn't necessary simply because we've heard about God in church every Sunday all our lives. There are MANY things I've learned in the last two years that I don't remember ever learning in Sunday school!!
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