The Proper Attitude of Man Under Grace:
- To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
- To refuse to make “resolutions” and “vows”; for that is to trust in the flesh.
- To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth….
- To rely on God’s chastening [child training] hand as a mark of His kindness….
Things Which Gracious Souls Discover:
- To “hope to be better” [hence acceptable] is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
- To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.
- To be discouraged is unbelief,–as to God’s purpose and plan of blessing for you.
- To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
- The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion….
- To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God’s order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man’s blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so,–in proper measure.
(From Wm. R. Newell’s Romans, Verse by Verse; adapted in Miles J. Stanford’s Principles of Spiritual Growth
