The Man in the Mirror..

My posting is sporadic at best, but that is a common theme of my life and the theme of this post. It's good to see Brother Hank has affirmed repeatedly the doctrine of total depravity in my absence though that flower has not taken full bloom as of yet. I apologize for the vague metaphorical or rather acronymical (it's a word.. trust me) reference, but it is too late for eloquent clarity yet still early enough for the simply clarity of the Word of God. So, it is toward that clarity I will make haste.

"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
-James 1:23-25 (ESV)

We are here told the mirror is as the law and the reflection of this law shows our true condition in light of it. The law brings to light sin as a mirror brings to light imperfection. In the days of James' writings mirrors were nothing more than polished metal, not even so clear as the glass we have today. It is to such mirrors that Paul makes reference in 1 Cor. 3:12, the one we see dimly in. The light of the Lord brings to light the sin in our life, this law, this mirror. We are in desperate need of a picture of our true state. Our society is in love with its image, in love with the mirror, perhaps moreso than any other in history and yet it sees itself less clearly than it ever has before. We do not now forget what it is we see in the mirror, we are looking in a different mirror. We have taken 'judge not, lest ye be judged' to mean 'no one can judge me, including God.' There is no fear of the righteous wrath of a good and Just God. There is a complaceny, an ignorance, an apathy with regards to holiness and with regards to the Law. As the brief excerpt from Spurgeon which Bro. Hank posted so eloquently said, the Law was not abolished by Christ but fulfilled and thus the Law has not faded. It is not for the Law which Christ died but for the ability of the law to now be fulfilled by those who have been transformed by God's grace. Following the Law is NOT the means to holiness, it is the result of holiness and that imparted by God and not man's works and as Paul says in Galatians, "all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.." (3:10).
But we lose sight of these things. We forget who we are apart from Christ. We forget who we were before we were saved, or those who are lost do not see their true state. We look in a mirror that lies to us and we are deceived. The mirror of the devil will reflect no flaws. We will see the good and not the bad, we will see the facade and not the true character of the building and if our mirror is not true, our perception of ourself not be true then how can we know grace and know God? I do not mean to say that by searching ourselves we will know God more, in fact, I mean exactly the opposite. By knowing God I will see myself more clearly. By being in the light I will know my own condition. But if I hide in shadows, if I forget that man in the mirror then I will begin to rely on the works of the Law and begin to do that which Paul admonishes most strongly against, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3).
Let us pray for wisdom in the face of such foolishness. We did not begin this work nor can we complete it, but we can 'strive with all the power He so powerfully works within us' and we can 'work out our salvation with fear and trembling' and we can 'meditate on this Book of the Law and be careful to do everything written in it,' and we can 'decrease that He may increase' and 'live our lives in a manner worthy of the calling we have received,' and pray that we may 'be perfect as He is perfect.' Shall I continue? The great burden upon us is to submit our will to God's and we cannot and will not submit to God's rule if we retain confidence in our own. If we forget our weaknesses where will God be made perfect? We must remember both our infirmities and God's power. If we forget the former we will forsake the latter and if we forget the latter we will fall into utter despair. A clear picture of my state and no picture of Christ is a miserable combination and any notion that creeps in, though it be not said but thought, that views Christ as my peer and not my Lord will surely leave me in a high state of pride and a low state of grace.
I apologize for the lack of clear form in the above writing. The Christian sees dimly in the mirror and the non-believer sees nothing. The veil blocks sight. My prayer is for a giant mirror that reflects the state of a persons soul to stretch across the Eastern sky at dawn and travel with the sun as the shadows lift up from around the globe that men might see themselves as they truly are. I don't know if that exact thing is possible, nevertheless I will keep my eyes toward the horizon in hopes of either that or Christ's return, the latter of which is more likely and will accomplish basically the same thing. Until next time.

Peace in the Lord of all Creation,
EP