Never pat yourself on the back for what you have done. All that we are, and all that we can do that is pleasing in God's eyes, is because of what He did in us and for us.
In Galatians 6:14 we read, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Actually the word "glory" here means "to boast."
What Paul means here is that we give all the credit for our salvation to Christ and His cross. We then do not and must not boast about what we did or are doing. We must praise and thank God for everything that He has given us and done for us. Without that cross there is no salvation, but also no blessing of any kind or of any value. We must be thankful to God for all that which we receive physically. But, by all means, every bit of our salvation is His gift; and we owe Him endless thanks for every bit of it.
Christ died and suffered all the agony of hell for all those whom the Father gave Him as the members of His body, that is, the church. There is not the smallest part of the curse left for any one of His elect children. We suffer and die; but that is not being cursed. It is receiving that which God uses to bring us to glory.
We must, therefore, claim and confess our own unworthiness. We must say when we boast of the cross that we deserved all that agony which our Savior suffered. We must say that we deserve hell with all its torment. By nature we hate God, and our flesh still has that hatred. But salvation gives us rich blessedness. We owe God thanks and should boast of what He has done for us. Before the world we should shout of God's wisdom, love, and grace that saves us completely and blesses us wonderfully.
Read: Galatians 6
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Isaiah 28 ; Isaiah 29 ; Isaiah 30:1-11
Galatians 3:23-29 ; Galatians 4:1-31
Psalm 62:1-12
Proverbs 23:19-21
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Quote for Reflection:
"All (the disciples, MD) are within the sphere of Jesus’ attraction. But the bosom is reserved for, it is the throne of, the Johns. They feel the throbs of the Savior’s heart. They know Him as He knows the Father. Whose is the Gospel that leads to the Holy of Holies, that opens the door into the Lord’s innermost self? I imagine that none but he who lay on Jesus’ breast had the outline of the last discourse and the last prayer complete in its links, complete in its clothing, in His remembrance. The secret of the Lord was with him—“the disciple whom Jesus loved.” ~ J. Lange
