Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on May 23, 2021
It takes the genuine gift of faith from God to see ourselves as perpetrators.
Salvation from our state of sin can’t come while we see ourselves as victims. Salvation comes only when we confess ourselves as perpetrators, as sinners against God and man.
How can we get over that hurdle of pride, stubbornness, and self-justification? It takes the genuine gift of faith from God to see ourselves as perpetrators. Oh, we who profess to believe commonly declare that we’re sinners according to the Scriptures and doctrine we’ve been taught. When someone rightly speaks more specifically and personally to us about our spiritual shortfall before God, however, addressing that perpetrator nature in us, we’re offended.
We protest vehemently as victims and proceed to kill the messenger. We loathe accepting we’re at fault. We refuse to see ourselves as sinners, so we lie and, in the process, call God a liar, essentially declaring the sacrifice of Christ unnecessary because we are innocent. We despise the blood He shed for our sakes.
With the recognition of being a perpetrator (by conviction of the Holy Spirit) come shame, remorse, and repentance before God. To acknowledge oneself as a perpetrator is to take the path of salvation. Four of the greatest and truest words any person can ever speak are, “I am a sinner.” Salvation is for perpetrators, not victims. And the Gospel calls for perpetrators to repent.
“ ‘When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick., But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” (Matthew 9:12-13).