THE DARKNESS OF MY IGNORANCE

Michael E. Wood
December 30, 2011

The Law and Sin  - Romans 7:6-8
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

While reading through a series of messages by Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on Romans chapter 7, I was absolutely amazed at how well it seemed that this man knew me. The following, with the help of my precious wife, it is now being used as a tract to convey my own personal experience of the grace of God which has been so lavishly poured upon me through the merit of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ unto the praise of His power and His glory.

The darkness of my ignorance
Had bound me by my pride,
And hopelessness was that which
Made me wish that I had died.


Impure imaginations
Were driven to partake
Of things within my conscience
That I knew I should forsake.


But powerless was I within
To keep from going there,
And everything I tried
Just drove me deeper to despair.


Twelve Steps could only change
The outside for a while
But, when the props were pulled away
I found myself more vile!


The Bible, I was taught,
Could help me in this task;
But, my heart was like a stone
Not knowing what to ask.


The fulcrum of the Law
Stirred up desires within;
The power of my nature,
I have come to know as sin.


Then smitten to the dust
And thinking all was lost—
God’s Spirit came revealing
Christ had paid the awful cost.


His voice is what I heard—
Through the vessel of a man,
To show the grace and mercy of
My Father’s saving plan.


My sin upon Himself, He bore
On Calvary’s lonely tree;
The sinless Son of God consumed
The wrath that was due me.


The justice I deserved
His blood for sin atoned;
And in His righteousness before
The throne of God I’m owned.


My guilt and shame removed;
To know and love and serve
The only one who was and is
And coming—doth deserve.


All glory, praise, and honor
As the God of all creation
Will reveal Himself beyond
All hope’s imagination!

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1 Corinthians 2:8-10