| Just As I Am |
| And Just as He Is |
by David A. DePra |
| "Just as I Am, without one plea...," the hymn goes. This hymn |
| expresses the great Truth that we are able to come to God |
| through Jesus Christ "just as we are." In other words, we do not |
| have to become righteous to approach God. We approach God |
| "just as we are," and He makes us righteous in Jesus Christ. |
| That is, of course, the Truth of grace found in the gospel. But |
| let's dig a little deeper into this Truth. Found in it are greater |
| riches than we may have realized. |
| Most of us would agree that we CAN come to God, "just as we |
| are." But do we realize that this isn't optional? In other words, |
| we MUST come to God "just as we are!" It is the ONLY way God |
| will accept us. Any other approach is not faith in the finished |
| work of Christ. Instead, it is faith in my ability to make myself |
| good enough for God. |
| Spiritual Poverty |
| Coming to God "just as I am" doesn't mean that I defend what |
| I am. In fact, it means just the opposite. To approach God "just |
| as I am" really means that I SURRENDER what I am. I see I am |
| needy, spritually dead, and bankrupt -- and surrender it to |
| God. Without one plea or excuse. I say to Him, "Here I am, Lord, |
| a complete mess. I give it to you so that you can deliver me in |
| Your Son." |
| This is what it means to see you are spiritually bankrupt. It is |
| what it means to be "poor in spirit." It is a place where you see |
| you do not have what you need, and have no way of getting it. |
| You are so convinced of your need that it is natural for you to |
| voluntarily and joyfully -- and soberly -- surrender all of yourself |
| to God. |
| We must, however, be sure of one thing: It is not enough to |
| understand this as a teaching. I can know that spiritual poverty is |
| the condition to which I must come. I can know all the Bible |
| verses on the subject until the teaching bores me to tears. But |
| none of that means I am yet spiritually poor. Only God can bring |
| me to that place. Only He knows how to reduce and deplete us |
| so that we can realize our real condition. |
| Our choice is, in fact, to allow God to bring us to that place. |
| We must surrender to God on a daily basis. When He shines His |
| light upon facets of our sin and failure, we must confess them to |
| Him. We must stop trying to salvage ourselves; stop trying to |
| establish ourselves by our own faith, works, or service. Then, if |
| we are open and honest to God in this way, we will be reduced |
| and depleted. God will see to it. |
| Sadly, some Christians will NOT submit to this process. The |
| thought of being exposed for what they are before God is too |
| terrifying for them. Their spiritual pride can't take it. They have |
| dug their trenches too deep. Now it is most difficult to get them |
| out. The more God invades them, the more they dig in. No, not |
| in an open, sinful rebellion against Him, but in a religious |
| rebellion. They close their ears to God, refusing to believe that |
| He would require such a thing of them. In time, they may even |
| believe the Holy Sprit's probing of them is the Devil. |
| Happily, however, God never gives up. There is no human |
| ploy to avoid His love that He hasn't already seen. And while WE |
| must choose, God will not stop seeking us out. His love is |
| eternal. |
| Evidence |
| It is only natural to look to ourselves for proof that our "just as I |
| am surrender" to God "was a take." If we can see something in |
| ourselves which is evidence that a change has taken place, well, |
| then we will believe that God accepted our surrender and DID |
| SOMETHING. But if we can't see evidence, then some of us |
| doubt. We wonder if God even heard our prayer. |
| The Truth is, we are NEVER to look at ourselves to try to find |
| evidence that God is faithful. That is nothing more than putting |
| our faith in ourselves -- or in our perception of ourselves. We |
| are to look to God. Our faith is to be in Him, not in the evidence |
| we think we see of Him in ourselves. |
| That being said, however, the Bible actually tells us there IS |
| evidence of the unseen in us. Remember what it is? Faith. |
| "Faith IS the evidence of things unseen." (Heb. 11:1) Do we |
| realize what this is saying? It is saying that the fact I can believe |
| at all is, in itself, evidence that God has done something. Unless |
| God has already sought me out and found me, and done a work |
| in me, I would not so much as ask the questions I am asking. |
| The presence of faith in me IS a gift of God, and IS the evidence |
| that God is already at work. |
| Most of us think that faith is IN evidence. But the Bible says |
| that faith IS the evidence itself. It is an eternal deposit of God. If I |
| have so much as a mustard's seed worth of faith, God has put it |
| there. He is already at work. |
| Here we see that God must initiate or we are lost. Here we |
| see the foundation of the gospel of grace. It applies not only to |
| salvation, but to our entire Christian walk. God must initiate. He |
| must bring us to salvation. And He must initiate the work to bring |
| us to spiritual poverty and complete surrender. |
| After Surrender, Then What? |
| After we surrender all to God, then what? Once we come to |
| God, "just as we are," then what? Do we wake up the next |
| morning able to function differently? Are all of our patterns of the |
| flesh gone? Are we perfect specimens? |
| Not usually. In fact, after we surrender to God, it may seem to |
| us as if we are getting worse, not better. Why? Because our |
| awareness of our need has been made greater. Our spiritual |
| senses have been made sharper. So we will see things -- bad |
| things -- in ourselves which we did not see before. |
| This does not mean that God intends to bring us into a |
| perpetual self-focus, or into some kind of depressing, woe is |
| me, condition of defeat. Hardly. If I come to God "just as I am," it |
| is going to result is seeing Jesus Christ JUST AS HE IS. In other |
| words, the key to spiritual poverty is NOT to focus upon my lack. |
| It is to focus upon HIS sufficiency and greatness. |
| True humility is never an attitude of "down on self." It is an |
| attitude of "up with Christ." Indeed, the only way to become truly |
| be humble is to see yourself in the light of Jesus Christ. Then |
| you will see yourself "just as you are." But it's ok, because you |
| also see Him, "just as He is." |
| The fundamental characteristic of spiritual poverty is that a |
| person's focus and basis for living has been altered. No longer |
| do they rely upon themselves and their works. They rely upon |
| Jesus Christ. No longer do they seek out in themselves evidence |
| of Jesus Christ. They look to Christ Himself. They come to God |
| daily "just as they are," and realize that doing so will result in |
| God getting His will in our lives. * |