Feeling Godly Grief
We must seek to be zealous enough for God’s honor that we find ourselves selflessly grieving over those who reject the truth (with all its commensurate consequences) and sincerely rejoicing over those who repent.
The Experience of Every Christian
Trusting An Invincible Savior
Just as we can trust that nothing could ever defeat God’s intentions in Christ to purchase our redemption, we should in turn be fearless in pursuing God’s prescriptive plans and purposes for our lives.
Accepting Hard Truths
While the hard realities of God’s just retribution of the lost in hell should sober us, we ought to sincerely rejoice in the gracious realities of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf to free us from that penalty.
Cultivating Biblical Optimism
We must be confident and optimistic about God’s indomitable plans to use us, the gospel, and his Church to build Christ’s kingdom which will be filled with all sorts of people from every part of the world.
Encountering Unjust Criticism
Because following Christ and living for him will inevitably give rise to criticism and slander, we must prayerfully discern when to respond and how to answer with wisdom and integrity.
Suffering in a Broken World
Even as regenerate children of God we should not be surprised at the pain and suffering in our lives because we live in a fallen world, which thankfully will one day be made perfect by the exercise of Christ’s power.
Producing Evidence of Spiritual Life
We ought to be amazed at God’s grace in patiently calling us to a genuine repentance and working in us a true conversion that necessarily brings about evident and lasting changes in our lives.
Knowing Genuine Repentance
We must see our absolute necessity to repent of our sins regardless of any sense of security we may feel based on a relative comparison of our sinfulness.