tom.bl*g

Condemnation

George Macdonald, in The Hope of the Gospel--which just arrived in the mail today--writes the following.

Not for any or all of his sins that are past shall a man be condemned ; not for the worst of them needs he dread remaining unforgiven. The sin he dwells in, the sin he will not come out of, is the sole ruin of a man. His present, his live sins--those pervading his thoughts and ruling his conduct ; the sins he keeps doing, and will not give up ; the sins he is called to abandon, and clings to ; the same sins which are the cause of his misery ; though he may not know it--these are they for which he is even now condemned. It is true the memory of wrongs we have done is, or will become very bitter ; but not for those is condemnation ; and if in that our character which made them possible were abolished, remorse would lose its worst bitterness in the hope of future amends. 'This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.'

He does so love the run-on. Here's a money quote, from several pages later, which I pull out of its context for you.

Obedience is the soul of knowledge.

I've learned that's true in real-world application such as Dance Dance Revolution and racquetball, so I'm unsurprised to think that it may be true in spiritual matters.

Posted by Tom at January 15, 2004 01:08 PM