Bold Or Arrogant?
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
My grandfather, L.H. Ashcraft (missionary to Mexico for 30 years), used to say: “If I could buy you for what you’re worth, and sell you for what you think you’re worth, I’d be a millionaire”.
I find that I must constantly battle the entitlement attitude in me. This attitude is the product of my own pride and arrogance. If I honestly got what
I deserved, I would be in hell with my back broke because my sins are many, constant, daily, and very real. But still, there is this part of me which sincerely believes that I can atone for my sins by doing good works. There is something in me which demands that I do good things to cover for the bad things I do.
Yes, it’s good to do good things, that’s why we call them good. But if I do good things to cover for my sins thinking that God will somehow accept and bless me because of them, I will have done so under the influence of an arrogant entitlement attitude. Hebrews 4:16 talks about boldness. The difference between boldness and arrogance is the cross of Christ. By His own death on the cross, He became the end of the Law for righteousness to all who believe. Christ’s once-forall finished sacrifice empowers us to come boldly to God’s throne of grace. We do not come to His throne by means of our own purity or faithfulness; to do so would be arrogance. We don’t come to God’s throne of grace and say – look at me, I’ve been baptized, am faithful to church, sing in the choir, read my Bible and pray every day, give tithes of all that I possess; I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, and I don’t go with the ones that do. If we are bold before God’s throne because of our good works, then His is not a grace, but a Law throne. We come boldly before God’s throne of grace because we have been loved, forgiven, accepted, justified, sanctified and blessed by Jesus who finished all the work in our place. As the hymn says…
…in my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.
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