Proverbs 1:23
Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.
Scripture Insights
For several years, I would annually lead my congregation through John Wesley’s Covenant Service. The service not only invites believers to renew their commitment to follow Jesus but also leads the church through corporate confession of sin and assurances of God’s forgiveness and transformation.
Once, a frustrated layperson came to me and said, “I think you made this up. This can’t be from Wesley. He believed in sanctification! There is way too much confession of sin in this service for holy people.”
My brother misunderstood the nature of entire sanctification. God offers us freedom from sin, but not sinlessness. Freedom from sin means that we are not condemned to keep on sinning. Being holy doesn’t deliver us from God’s conviction or, in the words of Proverbs, his “rebuke.” In fact, living as a disciple of Jesus may make us more sensitive to the Spirit of God continually refining the image of God in us. Wisdom is to know how and when we need to repent, keeping our lives open to the work of God’s transformation.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, I am thankful for your love. However, I don’t want you to just accept me the way I am. I want you to transform me, to make me holy. Keep calling out the wicked ways in me.
—Scott
Daniels General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene
