November 10: CONVICTION OF SIN

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me.” Isaiah 1:2

Isaiah’s prophetic ministry was set in the southern kingdom of Judah and spanned from the latter end of Uzziah’s kingship through Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (v.1). Many Bible students call Isaiah the Messianic prophet, for his writings reveal his understanding of the greatness and the holiness of God alongside an understanding of the person and mission of Christ. These understandings brought into clear focus the glorious purpose in the mind of God for His people.

Isaiah’s relationship with God had a oneness that is readily reflected in his writings: a brokenness of heart that mirrors the broken heart of God.

“The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider” (v.3).

We would do well to pause and ponder our Creator . . . to consider His purpose in all that He has said and done. He is the Great Giver of perfect gifts! He is the power behind the divine Plan of Redemption. His Spirit comes to convict of sin… It is His Spirit behind the pen of His prophet Isaiah. Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! (v.4a)

The waywardness of fallen human nature is a pattern repeated in every age, every era, since Adam and Eve. But so few have really known the true conviction of sin. All of us have experienced, to one degree or another, the feeling of being disturbed for having done things that are wrong. But, when truly convicted of sin, every earthly relationship fades into obscurity at the awareness of the One whose greatness and holiness is behind our very existence and the plan for our redemption. “Against You, You only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). King David desired God’s forgiveness above all else; he understood that he had broken God’s heart. God does forgive sin—this is the great miracle of His grace—but the cost of that grace was His unfathomable grief in the death of His Son. It is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary—nothing less!*

A popular false teaching in our time rends apart the grace and the law of God, as if they are at odds. This teaching only leads people further and further into sin. But once a soul receives the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin, a new freedom comes into view: the freedom to repent before God, giving Him first place in your life! Now begins the true miracle of God’s grace: His divine work of transformation according to His perfect standard, to replace the sinful nature with the nature of His Son.

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36

*Oswald Chambers