In Mike Reeves' excellent talks on the reformation he speaks of Luther's great spiritual struggle.
Luther's perennial struggle was to believe that he had a gracious God.
In pondering that phrase this morning it occurred to me that we, in our settings, tend to frame our struggles in different language. We wonder whether we are saved. Luther wondered whether he had a gracious God.
I think the difference might be important.
.
In a sentence, I would say the reason for our difference is that we have de-personalised our world.
Part of that process is Christian, much of it is not.
That's my point of view anyway. What do you think is the significance, and the reason for the difference?
Its a good observation, Luther is a good friend to teach us. Have you read Mike's book?
dave k - good observation. mine was just the obvious - we look within, Luther was looking up.
dave b - nope, not yet. You?
yes - it's brilliant.
There's something strange about that isn't there?
Even in his struggle with works-righteousness, Luther knew that the issue was what God's stance towards him was.
And yet, as we struggle with salvation by grace, the issue we focus on is whether or not WE are saved, a somewhat worksy preoccupation (did I say the prayer right? have I really committed my life to Christ? do I really trust? etc.).
That's something I'm definitely thinking through and trying to understand too. Could the problem of introspection come from the whole "God's sovereignty and human responsibility" idea? Maybe this cannot but leads to us seeing if we've carried out our bit properly or adequately and if so then it cannot but lead to a lack of assurance? What about 1 John though, which seems to point to Jesus as well as how we're living (not completely sure about this) for assurance? Please help!
Hey Inilah, I'm heading out the door and won't be blogging this weekend but if you search "assurance" on the blog you'll find some more stuff on this.
In Jesus.