Absence of Repentance Brings

Spiritual Uncertainty

 

By A. W. Tozier

 

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;

if God peradventure will give them repentance to the

acknowledging of the truth.             -  -  2 Timothy 2:25

 

The man who is seriously convinced that he deserves to

go to hell is not likely to go there, while the man who

believes that he is worthy of heaven will certainly never

enter that blessed place.

 

I use the word "seriously" to accent true conviction and

to distinguish it from mere nominal belief.

 

It is possible to go through life believing that we believe,

while actually having no conviction more vital than a

conventional creed inherited from our ancestors or

picked up from the general religious notions current in

our social circle. If this creed requires that we admit our

own depravity, we do so and feel proud of our fidelity to

the Christian faith. But from the way we love, praise and

pamper ourselves it is plain enough that we do not

consider ourselves worthy of damnation!

 

The poor quality of Christian faith and the uncertain­ties

that mark the lives of a host of church members grow

out of our modern evangelistic scene's absence of real

repentance. So, too, the absence of repentance is the

result of an inadequate view of sin and sinfulness held

by those who present themselves in the inquiry room.

 

"No fears, no grace," said Bunyan. "Though there is

not always grace where there is fear of hell, yet, to be

sure, there is no grace where there is no fear of God.

For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and

they that lack the beginning have neither middle nor

end." 

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Yours in Christ,

Paul N. F.