Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"For our rejoicing
is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in this world we have conducted
our lives with simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by
the grace of God."
(2Cor. 1:12)
We draw near to God to receive that precious conscience of holiness, an inner knowing of what is right and what is wrong. That is why He gives of His Spirit to fallen people. The Spirit, when it enters into a life, "convicts" (if sin is present) because the Spirit of God brings an awareness of what is good and evil in God's sight. The Spirit is what Jesus and Paul called "light". Without that light, no one can see what is right or wrong because the mind of man is "not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be" (Rom. 8).
David understood this, and he thought that the man whom God's Spirit convicted of a sin was an especially blessed man. "Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O LORD, and teach out of your Law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked" (Ps. 94:11-12).
Every time anyone feels compunction for wrong-doing, it is because he has been touched by the Spirit of God. It is the influence in this world of people with God's Spirit that is keeping the world from becoming altogether wild. That is why Jesus told his followers, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt preserves things from decay and stench.
Let us be wise to do our part and to stay full of the Spirit so that we can be that sweet, saving influence on others. The people we love, as well as people we don't even know, need us to influence them not to completely give themselves over to wickedness. They need us even if they don't know us, and they need us even if they know us and don't like us.
Never turn against ungodly people. They need your light. Or, as Jesus put it, "The sick need a physician." And "I am not come to call the righteous to repentance." Those who hated Jesus most needed him most, and he knew that. He was dying for those with the worst of consciences, and to make white as snow the souls stained with bloody sin. He came to bring us light, to show us what is right and wrong, and to give us the strength to choose and to do the right.