It's A Good Thing the New Birth Is A Work of God's Spirit

See the writer's link to this picture
 and an accompanying note on depression
at the end of this devotional.

A soul is brought to the new birth and faith in Jesus Christ by the will and working of the Holy Spirit; but the process He uses is scary. He uses people like us! People who not only fail to uphold the biblical stress on the need for mercy, but who also seem incapable of distinguishing a desire for mercy from a desire for something which has nothing to do with mercy.

Yes, God can point a person to repentance by way of a "felt need" (see my note at the end of this devotional). Jesus did it a lot. But it does not stop there. Desiring God to solve a problem can be nothing more than subcontracting Him to serve our own kingdom agenda. For the sake of the unsaved soul, when we present the Gospel, we must understand this difference.

However, sloppiness with regard to mercy is not the only thing which threatens to lead to an empty or crippled faith. As Bunyan exposed the importance of conviction, he also described the danger of legalism.

Enter Mr. Worldly Wiseman - a spiritual abortionist who offers a way to avoid the stigma of the cross and the need for mercy. His counsel? Climb Mount Morality and learn from Mr. Legalist how to achieve moral success in a less embarrassing way.

Legalism is snake oil. It may satisfy the self-righteous, but it makes the burden heavier to one who grieves over embedded moral failure. To load a person with unbiblical steps, prohibitions and practices to be strictly performed (or avoided) in order to gain God's favor by self effort is a distraction and an invitation to disobedience. It distracts the mercy seeker from the Holy Spirit's grace-centered application of Christ to the soul, and it sets him on the path toward being a man-pleaser instead of a God-pleaser motivated by that atmosphere of mercy and grace in Jesus. The result is a self-righteous church member, an unmotivated churchgoer, a disillusioned and depressed "failure", or a bitter critic of Christianity.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FIRST-ROAD ARTICLES

SERIES INDEX

PREVIOUS:  The Forgotten Path of the Mercy Seeker
NEXT:  The Discovery of Mercy

Photo Link - The photo accompanying this devotional is taken from a "Mental Health Association" website in the United Kingdom. The site provides helpful observations of the character of one of the most prominent "felt needs" issues today - depression. I reference this both to give credit for the photograph and to provide a resource for observations. I am not offering a blanket recommendation for its "solutions." The Christian must be especially alert in dealing with depression because we can mistake it for guilt when, instead, it can be triggered by a host of other external factors internally misapprehended. Care must be given to keep in mind the difference between wrong thought patterns which batter someone personally and the need for mercy from God which we all share because of our rebellion against our Creator and His design. A depressed person may be content with relief and a new, positive outlook on life, and yet remain lost in  his relationship with God. On the other hand, once a depressed person has found mercy through faith in Christ, he needs coaching (paraklesis) to bring thought patterns into that atmosphere of grace which accompanies mercy. I cannot recommend highly enough Robert Kellemen's books, Soul Physicians and Spiritual Friends, for insights into that coaching process.