Tarnished Silver
Many believers see themselves as sinners covered by the blood of Jesus. Or as Dwight Edwards puts it many believers see themselves like “costume jewelry. Worthless metal covered with an attractive coating.” But he goes on to explain that we’re more like tarnished silver.
“While we’re covered by the infinite righteousness of Christ, we’re also new creations in Christ (silver) clothed in an earth suit that is sin-saturated (tarnished.) The new you isn’t a sinner but rather a saint who struggles with the tarnish of sin. We’re golden eagles with prairie-chicken tendencies still hanging on.”
This lesson from Edwards had a profound impact on me. I had always heard the phrases “covered by the blood of Jesus” and “sinner saved by Grace” which held a “hopelessness” for real transformation. If I’m covered by the blood of Jesus (which I believe I am) I’m still the same old person underneath. A sinner saved by Grace gives the same image. Yucky ol’sinful me under neath the Grace of God.
What a different picture Edwards paints. Sure, I am covered by the blood and saved by Grace, but I’m also a new creation through the blood. No longer am I worthless metal, but silver still tarnished with the pull of sin. By seeing myself as a saint who struggles with sin instead of a sinner saved by Grace, it gives me hope of true transformation.
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It’s so hard to think of myself as anything but tarnished. Sigh. I know I’m not, th at Christ made me new, but that doubt still lingers. Esp. every time I act SO UNCHRIST LIKE. I know I’m not alone with these emotions and I know that even this doubt is sin, why then do I (we) clutch it to our chests and run from the Lord?
Sorry, I got a little personal here. I guess you hit a sore spot. I’ll have to pray about this more and really try to give up this little bundle of sin I’m carrying around :/
May 14th, 2008 at 10:36 amAnnie, I can really relate! I often feel hypocritical at home, esp. when I yell at my children for yelling at their siblings! :0 Glad you felt compelled to share! I love it when I really connect with what someone had written.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:54 amSomehow, even though it may be true, once that blood covered me and now it has evaporated and I am a new person! God is in my life in a different way. Cindi
May 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pmWe’re doing a Priscilla Shirer Bible study and she quotes Steve McVey as saying that, when we are saved, we aren’t changed but EXchanged. I like that idea!
May 14th, 2008 at 6:57 pmThis makes me think of, “Though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” And we know the old has gone, the new has come . . . Good thoughts, Gina. Were you quoting from a book by Edwards?
May 14th, 2008 at 8:31 pm“We’re golden eagles with prairie-chicken tendencies still hanging on.”
Now that I can relate to. Thanks for sharing Gina.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:10 am