Rock of Ages Part 1

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

The first point I noticed was the idea of salvation through grace and not by works. Somehow now a days some Christians seem to have an almost Pelagian view of salvation. Of course if asked we’ll all say “grace through faith.” But then we go around saying “maybe I’ll go to hell if I don’t repent before I apologize for some unconscious sin of omission.” Or we say “they’re not good enough to enter heaven, ‘you’ll know a tree by it’s fruit’” Some even get angry when someone on their death bed gets saved without having lived all 80 years as a Christians. I wonder if we’ve actually grasped the reality that it’s only by grace. All I can hope for is to hide myself in Jesus and have his righteousness save me! My righteousness is as filthy rags!

The next thing I noticed is “let me”. It’s not I will it’s let me. Again the idea of respect and realizing I don’t deserve it but by God’s mercy I might be allowed to hide myself in His son.

The third things that struck me was the “double cure.” The blood and water which is to say the atonement and the spirit heals us in 2 ways. First, it saves us from wrath or hell. Our salvation is made possible by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But the second thing is we are made pure. Throughout history the gospel has been presented as “fire insurance” or a ticket out of hell into heaven. We’ve all heard someone say “I’ll get saved on my death bed.” But somehow people don’t realize that it’s a double cure first from the wrath of God and secondly from sin itself. If you think you have salvation without purity or personal holiness you’ve missed it. It’s a pill that heals your head ache and stops your runny nose. You can’t have one without the other. And furthermore the salvation experience we can receive by grace through faith because of Christ’s sacrifice is a cure not a curse, freedom not slavery, a key not a lock. God loves us and wants to save us, help us, and set us free from every chain that binds us. He makes us pure to save us from what is killing us- sin. Just as much as we come to God to save us from hell we must desire he save us from sin.

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

I have Jewish friends who work so hard to keep the law but fail continually. They eat kosher, respect Shabbat, never even so much as turn on a light bulb on the Sabbath, honor every holiday, go to temple, fast on Yom Kippor, and so many other things. They’re always telling me “it’s so easy to be a Christian.” At first I was a little taken aback by that statement but then I realized that’s right it’s so easy to be a Christian! Christ died to make it so easy. What I can do myself could NEVER be enough. I’m one of those people who found Jesus very young and never had a rebellious phase. I really haven’t done anything on the big list of no no’s for Christians, but I’ve sinned and without Jesus I’m just as lost as the mass murderer. Tim Keller, my favorite preacher, often says if every word you said was recorded and God judged you simply upon what you actually said at some point in your life was right and wrong you still wouldn’t live up. Even if I am the most “of fire” Christian in the world and dedicate every moment of my life to the Kingdom of God it could never be enough to make up for my sin. Even if I was repentant and cried all day and all night in sorrow for my short comings it could not save me. Only by the grace of God. Only by the blood of Jesus can I be saved.