Conviction and Comfort
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” - Hebrews 4:13-16
I had a lecturer at Bible College who used to talk about certain matters of faith being a “two-stakes theology”. (Just for a laugh, a classmate and I bought him a ‘thank you’ gift at the end of the semester - two Scotch fillet steaks!) He was referring to principles that appear to be dichotomous or in conflict with one another, yet are in fact complimentary. Arguably the most significant is the relationship between truth and grace - God’s justice and His kindness, or in the case of the text in Hebrews above, conviction and comfort.
We humans are always in danger of erring too far in either direction. At one extreme, we can become so fixated on truth, that it becomes law, and we lose sight of grace. At the other, we run the risk of becoming so gracious as to be permissive, and let go of the need to come before our holy God in reverent repentance.
God never makes that mistake. He alone is able to hold the two seemingly opposing aspects of His nature in perfect balance. He is never so convicting so as to lead us into condemnation - rather, He convicts to lead us to confession. Equally, He is never so comforting to as to lead us into complacency - rather, He comforts to lead us to consolation.
Hebrews 4:13 is sobering! God misses nothing - not a single thought, word, or action of ours is missed or overlooked. And we will all give an account for every one of them. Yet, as the author continues, the tone takes an abrupt and unexpected turn into Grace Avenue, just when we expected Condemnation Road. Jesus has lived our earthly existence, was tempted and tried in the same ways we are, yet resisted sin and lived the only perfectly righteous human existence. Because of this - because of the empathy He has with us - we are invited to approach the throne of our Father, knowing that He understands our weakness, and is ready and willing to give grace and mercy.
As John wrote, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Conviction and comfort, perfectly balanced. This is our God.
- Ps. Nigel