Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is known as a severe letter—angry, sharp, exposing and rebuking their moral failings and life practices that displease God. That rebuke produced a deep mourning, a sorrow that comes when we see our true condition before God. Yet one day God will comfort us, and that comfort is eternal. Frankly, reaching such a lament is rare because a person must see God’s holiness and sanctity. To see and discover God’s holiness, a person needs two things.
First, knowledge of God—an understanding of the majesty of His Person. This is not measured by ordinary moral standards alone. Common moral parameters cannot fully gauge God’s holiness and the majesty of His Person. His holiness and majesty are extraordinary, and we must study Scripture—Gospel accounts and the writings of Paul, Peter, James, and the pastoral letters—to form a true conception of God’s holiness in our minds.
Second, personal experience. Like Isaiah, when he met the Lord whose train filled the temple and saw the seraphim, he cried, “Woe is me!” Isaiah’s moral standard as a prophet exceeded that of ordinary people, yet encountering God’s holiness led him to cry, “I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips and dwell among a people of unclean lips.” God’s holiness made him tremble—and it should make us tremble too. The church must not lead people to lament merely worldly and fleeting troubles but must guide them to a holy lament—godly sorrow—which God calls blessed when we possess it. Therefore, if we indulge many worldly pleasures, God will not be our chief delight. But if we truly say, “Lord, You alone are my delight,” and do not turn to other things, our delight becomes whole.
We can live morally—honoring parents, avoiding murder, theft, adultery, and other violations. Still, without walking with God, such morality can breed pride and a false sense of worthiness for heaven, whereas salvation is not the result of good deeds. If God grants us grace, we must pursue holiness, and that holiness must meet God’s standard.
Thus, we will not be proud regardless of how moral we appear, because our standard is God. We must keep moving forward. Knowing how difficult that is produces lament and godly sorrow—and that sorrow pleases God.
If our aims are many worldly goals and pleasures, and failure to obtain them causes distress, we will not grieve in the way God desires. If we are upset over failing to gain worldly pleasures, we will not properly prioritize a pure heart and righteousness before God.
The value of Christ’s cross is costly and requires a willingness to lose one’s life. We cannot be Christians who will not surrender life. Grace is not for the half-hearted or for those who merely seek religion to save their lives. Remember: grace is not for the lukewarm. Faith in God is everything and must claim our whole life, because faith means our readiness to submit absolutely to God’s sovereignty. Only with such faith can we rightly respond to God’s grace.