Note: Devotion taken
from the afternoon sermon on January 26 on
chapter six in the 1689 Baptist Confession
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).
The corruption of nature during this life doth remain
in those that are regenerated” (2LBCF 6:5).
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was an important early Christian
pastor and theologian in North Africa. His writing had a deep influence on many
of the Protestant Reformers, like Calvin, so that Reformed theology is often
described as being “Augustinian.”
In a memoir titled The
Confessions, Augustine reflected on his early life noting several instances
from his childhood in which his conscience was bothered by sin. He recalls
taking some things from the cupboard without asking his parent’s permission (“I
pilfered from my parent’s cellar and table”—Book I, chapter XVIII). He cheated
at games (“I sought dishonest victories”). He recalls how as a youth he and
some other boys stole some pears from an orchard (“Doing this pleased us all
the more because it was forbidden”—Book Two, Chapter IV).
As an adult he entered into more flagrant sin, including taking
several mistresses and fathering a son out of wedlock.
When he first heard the gospel Augustine hesitated, because he did
not want to give up his lusts.
At one point, while under conviction to become a Christian, he prayed:
“Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet” (Book VIII, chapter VII).
Eventually, however, he was converted. It happened one day when he
came under conviction of sin and went into a garden. He heard some children
playing nearby and chanting, tolle lege
(take up and read). And there on the bench where he sat was a Bible which he took
up and opened, his eyes falling on Romans 13:13:
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
And this became the turning point.
His Confessions
consists of 13 books (or sections). His conversion is told in Book VIII. But
there are five more books.
At places in those remaining books, Augustine expresses
sometimes his wonder, sometimes his consternation, that even after his
conversion, though he had full assurance of it, he still had to battle against
remaining corruption.
At one point, he says to God: “Thou commandest continence
[purity of life]; give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt” (Book
X, chapter XXIX).
Even though he, by discipline, refrained from outward flagrant
sin, he noted that the images of these things were still fixed in his memory,
and his mind would often drift there, particularly in his dreams.
At one point he says to God:
I am trusting that thou wilt perfect they mercies in me, to
the fullness of that peace which both my inner and outward being shall have
with thee when death is swallowed up in victory (Book X, Chapter XXX).
He later adds:
For my infirmities are many and great; indeed, they are many
and very great. But thy medicine is still greater (Book X, Chapter XLIII).
These are, indeed, the sentiments of every redeemed saint, who
recognizes the remaining corruption within him, the work of sanctification in
him, and the hope of glory for him.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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