Spiritual Sensitivity
Philippians 3:1–11
The righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3:9

Will you accept God’s verdict upon your goodness and turn to him for the righteousness he gives you by grace? Paul did this, for he says that his desire was to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but having that which is through faith in Christ—righteousness from God by faith.

Quite a few years ago a man was brought into the emergency room in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, with a dislocated spine. My father, who was an orthopedic surgeon, was on duty, and he saw at a glance that the man had been partially paralyzed. He had been in a serious accident, and there was much wrong with him. His legs had been broken and there were deep lacerations over much of his body, but he could not feel these things because a nerve had been pinched by the spine. My father began to operate on him using a local anesthetic and occasionally asked if the man could feel anything from his injuries. The questioning went like this: “Do you feel anything?” “No.” “Do you feel anything now?” “No.” At last my father came to a piece of splintered bone that was pressing on the nerves. This time, as he removed the bone and asked, “Can you feel anything?” the answer came back loudly, “Yes, yes, I can feel it!” It was a cry of pain. But it was a pleasing cry, for it was the first step in the man’s complete recovery.

It may be the same for you. God’s verdict upon the human race includes all people—the hedonist, the moralist, the most religious person, and you, whatever you may be. It is one that declares all human righteousness unable to satisfy the righteous standards of God. You are included in that judgment, but you may not be able to feel that the things God is saying about you are true. Are you sensitive to God’s verdict? Do you feel the truth of his statements? If not, there is a spiritual disorder in your life and God must begin to operate on it before you will come to him.

Perhaps he is doing that now! You may be feeling the most acute spiritual pain because of it, but you must know that your new sensitivity is the first step in your spiritual recovery. Your recovery will take place completely as you come to God to receive a righteousness that comes from God himself and is entirely untainted by sin. That righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ. You must come to God through him.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.