“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” (Rom. 7:18)
If a young believer learns this lesson early in his Christian life, he will save himself from a world of trouble later on. The Bible teaches that there is NO GOOD THING in our old, evil un-regenerate nature. The flesh is absolutely no good. It is not improved one iota at the time of conversion. It is not improved by a lifetime of consistent Christian living. In fact, God is not trying to improve it. He has condemned it to death at the Cross and wants us to keep it in the place of death.
If I really believe this, it will deliver me from a futile search. I will not look for anything good where God has already said it can’t be found.
It will deliver me from disappointment. I am never disappointed when I don’t find any good in myself. I knew it wasn’t there in the first place.
It will deliver me from introspection. I start with the premise that there is no victory in self. In fact, self-occupation spells defeat.
It will guard me from psychological and psychiatric counseling which turns the searchlight on self. Such therapy only compounds the problem instead of solving it.
It teaches me to be occupied with the Lord Jesus. Robert Murray McCheyne said, “For every look you take at self, take ten looks at Christ.” That is a good balance! Someone else said that even a sanctified self is a poor substitute for a glorified Christ. And the hymnwriter wrote, “How sweet away from self to flee, and shelter in our Savior.”
Much modern preaching and many new Christian books send people on an introspective binge, occupying them with their temperament, their self-image, their hang-ups and inhibitions. The whole movement is a tragedy of overbalance and it leaves a trail of human wreckage.
“I am too bad to be worth thinking about; what I want is to forget myself and to look to God, who is indeed worthy of all my thoughts.”
Be the first to react on this!
His more than over eighty-four works published in North America are characterized by a clarity and economy of words that only comes by a major time investment in the Word of God.
MacDonald graduated with an AB degree from Tufts College (now University) in 1938 and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1940. During the 1940's he was on active duty in the US Navy for five years.
He was President of Emmaus Bible College, a teacher, preacher, and Plymouth Brethren theologian alongside his ministry as a writer. He was a close friend and worker with O.J. Gibson.
MacDonald last resided in California where he was involved in his writing and preaching ministry. He went to be with the Lord in 2007.