By: Gabriela Yareliz
So this piece is a bit long; I understand. Time runs short these days, but I encourage you, if you are interested in these topics of peace, philosophy and belief, to read it. I wouldn’t spend time typing this out if I didn’t think this was important.
I have divided the themes into seperate sections so you can read them at your convenience at your own pace if you can’t read it all in one go.
In the end, I think all of our souls are restless and seeking. We are all looking for peace and Truth. I am an inquirer who is walking along the journey; so walk with me.
PEACE
How is it that we can have true peace in God? We, as humans, often have a struggle of trying to earn things and doing things by our own merits. By doing good things, by fasting, by going to certain places, we feel we can achieve a peace with God. That we can be counted as “good enough”; that somehow there is a balance, and our good somehow cancels out the bad.
We think that we, finite minded sinners, can through our finiteness be good enough for God or earn some sort of salvation. This could not be further from the truth. Maybe this is what we truly believe. That in our lives it is up to us to impress God or earn His favor. Perhaps we do not blatantly try this, but sometimes this mentality is revealed in subtle ways.
What is it that tells us this is not true? How can we truly have salvation or simply peace with God?
Let us look at the case of a monk. They say there is no greater proof than first-hand knowledge. True experience. No one can tell you that what you experienced is not true, so here is a bit about his experience.
About this monk:
“Every moment that could be spared from his daily duties he employed in study, robbing himself of sleep and grudging even the time spent at his scanty meals. Above everything else he delighted in the study of God’s word.
He had found a Bible chained to the convent wall, and to this he often repaired. As his convictions of sin deepened, he sought by his own works to obtain pardon and peace. He led a most rigorous life, endeavoring by fasting, vigils, and scourgings to subdue the evils of his nature, from which the monastic life had brought no release.
He shrank from no sacrifice by which he might attain to that purity of heart which would enable him to stand approved before God. “I was indeed a pious monk,” he afterward said, “and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been entitled to it. . . . If it had continued much longer, I should have carried my mortifications even to death.”–Ibid., b. 2, ch. 3.
As the result of this painful discipline he lost strength and suffered from fainting spasms, from the effects of which he never fully recovered.
But with all his efforts his burdened soul found no relief. He was at last driven to the verge of despair.” (Great Controversy, pg. 124)
This monk was Martin Luther. Note: It is not only the Christian world that falls into this earning of peace and constant effort.
“When it appeared to Luther that all was lost, God raised up a friend and helper for him. The pious Staupitz opened the word of God to Luther’s mind and bade him look away from himself, cease the contemplation of infinite punishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus, his sin-pardoning Saviour.
“Instead of torturing yourself on account of your sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer’s arms. Trust in Him, in the righteousness of His life, in the atonement of His death. . . . Listen to the Son of God. He became man to give you the assurance of divine favor.” “Love Him who first loved you.”–Ibid., b. 2, ch. 4.
Thus spoke this messenger of mercy. His words made a deep impression upon Luther’s mind. After many a struggle with long-cherished errors, he was enabled to grasp the truth, and peace came to his troubled soul.
He set before the people the offensive character of sin, and taught them that it is impossible for man, by his own works, to lessen its guilt or evade its punishment.
Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in Christ can save the sinner. The grace of Christ cannot be purchased; it is a free gift. He counseled the people not to buy indulgences, but to look in faith to a crucified Redeemer. He related his own painful experience in vainly seeking by humiliation and penance to secure salvation, and assured his hearers that it was by looking away from himself and believing in Christ that he found peace and joy,” (GC, pg. 125).
GABRIELA YARELIZ 