The Christian life is all about the transformation of self-centered desires into truly satisfying God-honoring desires. This episode cites several verses in Psalm 119 in which the psalmist's desires are consumed with God and His law, even to the point the author sounds famished for them: "I am crushed with longing after your ordinances at all times." (20) This language signals the transformation of desire available to all Christians. God deposits in every believer a holy relish for God and His law (Romans 7:22), and saints who cooperate with the process of sanctification discover the beauty and excellency of God's law, which expresses God Himself. True lasting fulfillment is the reward of all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Their desperate longing is satisfied in Christ Himself.
God’s gifts in Conversion that Lead to Repentance
The circumcision of Christ initiated at conversion makes possible repentance from dead works and the repentance from the old self. This episode highlights the various Scriptural signs that indicate the circumcision of Christ, and these henceforth enable the believer to repent in the ongoing process of sanctification. The believer is first born again by the Word of God (1 Pet 1:23), made a partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4), and given a new principle from which he "rejoices with the law of God in the inner man" (Rom 7:22). I provide my testimony as a convert coming out of Catholicism where the above 3 signs were evident, even though I hadn't little exposure to Scripture. My conversion led to a hyper-sensitive conscience, which was the Spirit's foundation in me that assisted in repentance.
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