Hear Me Here - The Power of Weak Men in God, Our Salvation, and the Passing of the Storm [Against Virtue Ethic]

So Hearken All You Men and Women of Faith, May You be Weakened to Your Limits in this Voyage such that the Storm will clear again and again in the resplendence of the Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Hear Me Here -

The Power of Weak Men in God, Our Salvation, and the Passing of the Storm [Against Virtue Ethic]

This Article was inspired by watching Paul Washer’s sermon of Love and Grace, the clip was titled ‘Give Me Weak Men and the World can be changed.’

The message of Washer’s Sermon absolutely and neatly dovetails with the mist of An Idea that I have been trying to meditate and think through for about 6 months Now.

I Have had the intuition that Virtue Ethics is fundamentally flawed or at the very least Overused, Abused and Vainly Touted.

You see because Pagan Philosophy such as Stoicism and Gnosticism employs Virtues in line with Greek Philosophy predating its fame in Aristotle—there is ample room in which ‘virtue’ can and has been used as a substitute for Grace and Saving Works of God [propitiation of Sin through the Sacrifice of Christ].

This is not to say that Stoicism in its own right is useless Nor am I saying that Virtue is useless or discardable.

What I am saying it that Virtue is often a Straight Shot to Vainglory and to Pride.

Vaunting Yourself Up on Your Virtues is something that We all have partaken of in Gossip, it is an abundant Sin You see. Comparing and contrasting Yourself with Others based on perceived Virtues that You Posses and making fun of the Weakness of Others is the Universal Application of Human Judgementalism. I am Certainly Guilty of this when My Tongue starts wagging and steering My Whole pitiful conscience in these moments.

The First Step to repentance is recognizing that You have Sinned.

Stoicism can be salvaged in many respects as can genuine virtues as fruits of a labouring Christian Life.

But What I am saying is that Calvinism has something to offer on this part of the Musical Piece.

That is the fact that a person is totally incapable of Saving Himself based upon nothing more than his Merits, Obedience, Or Works. You see that Our Sin [the facticity of it since Adam Our First father] and inborn rebellion against God is too great an item to purchase against. And in reality Our works have not garnered the wages necessary for payment, especially with the Tab which We’ve been running up at the Sin Tavern - [call it ‘the Hellfire Watering Hole’].

It truly is the case that foremost the Greatest price able to be paid for purchasing Our Salvation is Christ Crucified, He picked up the tab with an eternal downpayment. Moreover, a Lean cannot be taken out on Our Good Works in the future, especially if these works are devoid of God’s Grace [that is, without Jesus’ Help].

It’s funny that the more You look at the World to Find something Novel the More Old Long Tried Patterns of Sight guide Your Own Vision. And While I would not consider Myself a Calvinist in the strict sense or the General sense, He is Useful Here in terms of offering advice on Our Weakness before God, Our Total Depravity and inability to save Ourselves from Drowning in Sin —as Paul Washer reminds Us in His story on the drowning surfer in Argentina.

Whatever Wages we earn through Our work are Owed to God, not privileged against Him.

But Lo, before You think You have nothing to do with making it to that Good Place, the message of Washer is evidently telling Us that We are not merely automatons.

Washer says that God Wants to remind Us How Weak We Really are. Then this He can Use to brag to His Heavenly friends—Look how dreary and lowly this My Child is, Yet He does not Curse Me But retains Belief and Worships through all the calamity. Like Our Humble Job, Who though doubted, erred on the Side of Upstanding in obedience for God in the End.

We must All at many points in Our life and through the slow drag of Time come to recognize Our utter helplessness, and loss and abandon to Sin. We are Weak, cannot Hold a job, Lose Our Friends, Racked With Doubt, On Our hands and knees on Our Kitchen Floor [and I promise You will be there in this position as well if not already]. Crushing Isolation and Lack of even a glimmer of talk between warm and fast friends. In this All God is bringing Us All the Nearer to His Breast. Because it is not Wealth, Power, and Fame that comforts You when the Fears and Doubts close in during the Long Night. But rather the Presence and Spirit of the Lord.

So that Even if You were alone in an old wooden cabin of a Dry Cold and Desolate Place with nothing but a candlelight and a Good Bible—You Too can be close to the Lord Who Loves, the Lord Who Saves and the Grace of a Lifetime.

Indeed Washer is Correct. I feel vulnerable and weak in My Isolation and Diagnosis with Schizoaffective Disorder, the lack of motivation and social stimulation and lack of a steady job cripples My soul at many times. But the Lord is Gracious and I would not trade the Gift of Weakness or Loneliness for the Kingships of the Earth. Because in My Despair I cling to the Lord My God and He Comforts Me with the Holy Spirit speaking words into My stream of thought. Quiet but Forceful are these words and commands. Done Mind You when I am Stone Sober of Mind, in fact this is when the Words are closest to My Heart.

So Hearken All You Men and Women of Faith, May You be Weakened to Your Limits in this Voyage such that the Storm will clear again and again in the resplendence of the Lord.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.