I’m Fallen, and I Can’t Get Up
As sure as the sparks of a flame fly skyward, we’ve got problems. When we try to do well, there’s a negative counterbalance. I’m sure I’ve never had a pure motive. That goes for you, too. I’ve come to believe that any other explanation is self-serving. There was a time when I thought I was mostly over my inabilities, but I’ve come to realize that is not true. In these latter years of my life, I have come to understand what it means to be fallen from grace.
When Adam and Eve sinned in Eden, not only they, everything fell. If we misunderstand anything regarding this today, it is the depth of that fall. They became totally depraved. Even the good to which they aspired afterward was impotent and debauched. And the same is true of all their progeny. We became sinners by nature, and, God help us, sinners by choice. From this position we cannot rise. Paul’s anguished cry was, “I cannot escape my body of death!”
Sin can be missing the mark or crossing a known boundary. We’ve done both. Our foibles are not merely mistakes- they go much deeper than that. The thoughts that we dismiss as beyond our control come from somewhere. The absence of real purity, of innocence, has drained us of insight. We do not appreciate the good or abhor the bad as they deserve. We are “less than”- pale imitations of what we should be.
No amount of initiative or inspiration can lift us from our deplorable state. When we think we are becoming strong, we may be at our weakest. Self-deception is ever our foe. Vance Havner said the evil genius of Satan is that he makes us think our weaknesses are actually strengths. We cannot rise. All efforts fail. The devil will say there is no use to try because there is ultimately no hope. Our experience must prove him right.
What has been true of many lives would be true of all lives were it not for grace. If we misunderstand the depth of sin, we also misunderstand the height of God’s grace. Only grace can rectify the sinful condition. It is the only antidote for depravity. And it is the only thing that can spur and empower us toward any virtue. Any acceptance that we receive from God for any charitable work than we have done is also by grace.
Philosophical ruminations must be laid aside. The excuses we make for humanity, as well as, the improvements for which we strive must be seen as self-justifications in the clear light of grace. Workaholics must understand that worldly applause is not divine acceptance. No one can boast before the Deity. Grace taught my heart to fear when I understood there was nothing I could do to satisfy the glory of God. I am fallen. “There is no one righteous, not even one.”
The precious grace appears when we believe. That is, it becomes apparent to us. Grace is unseen until it becomes real in our lives. An obstacle for some is whether or not God’s grace actually applies to them. Can it really help when all else fails? It can, and it does because grace in the life is active, not passive. It is the absolute and only answer. It will help if we let it. I hope you will. I did.
Sterl
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