Dear Christian, Here’s Your Attitude Check

by Kevin Burton

   I shared this with my mom before I shared it with you. Hope you don’t mind.

   It’s the latest message from Alistair Begg, speaker on the Truth For Life radio ministry. I thought Mom needed to hear it. I knew I needed to hear it and I think you will appreciate it too.

   Begg essentially hits refresh on our attitudes as Christians and in doing so asks a simple question. He then spells out the desired result of your obvious, affirmative answer.

   “Do you believe that your sins are forgiven and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be!”

   A “joyful Christian” he said. He didn’t say you were carefree or without trials and complications. He said the fact that you are saved supersedes everything else and should color everything in your life.

   “How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now?”

    Luther said, “Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is forgiven; if You have forgiven me, smite as hard as You will.” And in a similar spirit you may say, “Send sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution, what You will. You have forgiven me, and my soul is glad.”

   It’s so lovely to read that message. It looks so good on the page. Its truth is undeniable. But it is another matter entirely to have that message leap off the page and into your day, bursting through every aspect of your life. This can happen only through Christ. So surrender to Him and hit refresh every day if you have to. Here is what that life should look like according to Begg.

   “Christian, if you are thus saved, while you are glad, be grateful and loving. Cling to that cross that took your sin away; serve Him who served you,” Begg writes.

   The Apostle Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

   “Do not let your zeal evaporate in some little exuberant song. Show your love in meaningful ways. Love the brethren of Him who loved you.,” Begg writes. “If there is a Mephibosheth anywhere who is disabled, help him for Jonathan’s sake. If there is a poor tried believer, weep with him, and bear his cross for the sake of Him who wept for you and carried your sins.”

   Christ has commissioned us as ambassadors, to tell the story of forgiveness of sin, and fellowship on earth, telling the truth in love about Heaven and Hell and all those implications.

  “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20 NASB).

   “Since you are forgiven freely for Christ’s sake, go and tell others the joyful news of pardoning mercy. Do not be contented with this unspeakable blessing for yourself alone, but publish widely the story of the cross,” Begg writes.

   And to the timid teachers among us, Begg writes:

   “Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a good preacher, and all the world will be a pulpit for you to preach in. Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons, but the Lord must give it to you,” Begg writes.

   “Seek it this morning before you go into the world. When it is the Lord’s work in which we rejoice, we need not be afraid of being too glad.”