by Elder Peter Lim

I grew up watching the Schoolhouse Rock series of animated snippets which taught me many lessons about the U.S. Government (“I’m Just a Bill”), Science, History, as well as English grammar (“Conjunction Junction, What’s Your Function”). The lessons on adverbs and adjectives remain vividly in my mind. Little did I know that these parts of a sentence would be so critical to understanding the heart behind the gospel message.

“The law makes sin appear exceedingly sinful; the gospel makes sin feel exceedingly painful.” (Phil Johnson)

I love this quote by Phil Johnson because it conveys the sort of realization that only a genuine Christian would have. It would be easy for many people, especially those who have grown up in the church, to write the same thoughts without these underlined modifiers. They would still make sense and they would still be true. However, the word “exceedingly” adds a higher degree of understanding that conveys a heart that has truly experienced the grace of God. I thought it would be a good idea to expand on this thought to include some more indicators of a true Christian:

• Heartfelt worship of God
• Burning desire to pursue godliness
• Anguishing regret over one’s own sin
• Wretched low view of self
• Loving obedience to Scripture
• Humble understanding and enthusiastic agreement with the facts of the gospel

Try reading each one of these without the underlined adjectives. They still make sense, don’t they? However, what’s missing is the seriousness and the wretchedness and the passion which are inherently a part of an appropriate response to the gospel. How can we so coldly write the facts regarding our perfect God, the holy Creator who emptied Himself of His divine privilege to come and be made as a man, humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross? Worse, how can we live our lives as if sin isn’t so bad and doesn’t affect our relationship with God? Friends, we need to hate the sin in our lives more and more as we mature in Christ. May we never get to a point where we’re comfortable with where our lives are at and let us strive forward to excel still more toward godliness.