Bible Study

I went to the Women's Bible study today. I missed last week as I was out of town. Our study is by John Stott, The Beatitudes- Developing Spiritual Character.

Today Clare taught and it was amazing. She taught on Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. John Stott teaches that this mourning is the mourning we should feel about our sin.

Some thoughts from Clare's lecture

Sin from God's perspective= separation, death, costly, final judgement and universal. There are no 'respectable sins'.

The story of the Bible is about sin- Genesis is the entrance of sin and Revelation is the eradication of sin.

The mission of Christ is dealing with sin. John 1:29 "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Sin always leads to death-physical death, death of relationships, death of enjoyment of the world as God created it, sin destroys everything and it is 100% fatal.

Darwin Jordan said that the person you are in the world has to do with how you deal with sin.

John Piper said that sin is powerfully and suicidally appealing.

Is there any hope?

Indeed!

We need a helpless dependence on Christ and absolute confidence in the work of Christ. II Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

David is known as a man after God's own heart. His sin with Bathsheba led to many deaths of many kinds- her husband Uriah, their baby, Amnon raped Tamar, Absalom killed Amnon and on and on and on.

But David mourned his sin Ps 32 and Ps 51 show us this.

Clare challenged us to really ponder the question- Do I really believe that sin causes death? Am I appalled at my sin? Do I understand the cost of my sin?

I was so convicted. I have never mourned my sin to the depth that they need to be mourned. Wow, My prayer this week is for God to show me my sin (gently please, Lord) and for me to own it and not blameshift or justify it or excuse it. I'll be on my knees lots this week.