I’ve made only one of the two hexagonal potholders in this set so far, but I’ve had a lot to contemplate in the making.The Christian faith is full of paradoxes, because God is full of paradoxes – seemingly contradictory, yet in reality, truth. A judge who is both just and merciful at the same time; a man who must lose his life to save it; a kingdom where the first shall be last. Some of these puzzles I can make sense of logically, but others I have yet to wrap my brain around.
I have a harder time comprehending the practical application of a salvation accomplished by grace yet demonstrated by works (Eph 2:8-9; James 2:24). The Bible tells me that the Holy Spirit allows me to know the thoughts of God and have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:11-12, 16), yet God is omnicient and still holds many unfathomable mysteries. Most recently, I’ve been struggling with the concept of sin post-salvation. The fact that a Christian is a “new creation” (2 Co 5:17) who “does not continue to sin” (1 John 5:18) seems incongruent with reality and personal experience.
It makes a lot of sense why Jesus taught in parables, using metaphors to explain spiritual truths in earthly stories we could understand. I wish these were as easy as a pat answer. I welcome your thoughts and comments. In the meantime, I’ll think I’ll go ask God for some insight, and ponder through a few more hexagons.
Pattern Credit: African Flower Potholder by Darlisa Riggs. Available at ravelry.com
I've always felt that "word pictures" connected a person to more than just intellectual process and bridged into the heart in a way that helped us remember what was being taught or expressed. Your current post reminded me of that. Aunt Marie
ReplyDeleteThis post, specifically sanctification and "the concept of sin post-salvation" has been on my mind a lot the past few weeks. My first step was recognizing that lack-of-sin is not the primary thing God wants from us. Recently he has been showing me that the key thing He is looking for is faith, which is not just belief in his existence, but trust and confidence in his will. We see this in the stories of Abraham & Isaac or David & Goliath, who were in no way free from sin, but great faith was demonstrated in their actions. Sin is about us, but avoiding it isn't meant to be our primary focus, over strengthening our faith and trust in God and the pursuit of his will.
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