The Pattern

"...behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned...thou hast hid thy face from us." Isaiah 64:5b, 7b

The pattern is always the same: God's presence belongs to the righteous (vs. 1-5a), but Sin separates us from God (vs. 5b-7), and repentance is the only solution (vs. 8-12). Any gospel that does not follow that pattern is not the Gospel. Any gospel that does not assert the Fall and the Cross, man the great sinner and Christ the great Savior, wrath on Sin and grace towards sinners, "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," (I Corinthians 15:22) any gospel that does not make those distinctions is heresy and nothing else.

The pattern is true because it is biblical; it is proclaimed from the Old Testament to the New. If we would have God and all that He is, then we must truly be righteous. If we sin, we are no longer righteous, and God is departed from us. If we repent, and submit to the finished work of Christ, we shall have mercy, for we shall have God, Who is "ever merciful all the day" (Psalm 37:26). Check your gospel against the holy pattern set down in Scripture; and wherever there is an inconsistency, you can be sure that it is you who has erred.

"Your Love is,

Your Love is,

Your Love is

Unchanging.

May we never defile it..."

-Jon Vowell