“I know, Lord, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75)
Not only am I a sinner, I am a repeat sinner.
It’s not that I haven’t been forgiven, justified, and made new. All that is true. It happened. It happened when I received Jesus as Lord and Savior. All was made new. All that is old has passed. I have been made a creation.
All that is true. But until Christ returns, I am still in this body, in this flesh. And as long as I am in this flesh, I will continue to struggle with sin.
That’s the reason why in God’s faithfulness God’s word afflicts me. Something would be terribly wrong if God’s word only affirmed, accepted, validated a repeat sinner.
God doesn’t afflict to punish. God’s truth and word afflicts in order to tell us what’s wrong so that we can seek God and his forgiveness.
When you put your hand on something sharp or hot, the pain that sears through your hand is a warning. And that warning is a good thing. It tells you to stop before you really hurt yourself. Imagine if there was no warning sign. Imagine you just kept pressing on a blade or kept your hand on a hot stove.
That’s what God’s word does for us. God’s word afflicts us so that we can stop before we really hurt ourselves and others.
A false gospel is one that never offends; one that never afflicts a repeat sinner.
Thank God for his affliction.
Praxis: Faith in Action 