Historical Fiction

   I have been reading a series of books by C.J. Sansom, a series recommended to me by a pastor friend in Chattanooga. These books are set in the time of Henry VIII of England in the 1500s, and are mysteries that focus on the historical period of the Reformation in England and the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries in that country. The principle character is a fictional lawyer, but the other main figures are right out of English history, Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer.

   In the book Revelation, Sansom has a character, Adam Kite, that is so tormented by the fact that he is not "saved", as that term is defined by some preachers of that era, that all he can do is fall on his knees and pray regardless of where he is. I can't tell the end of the story because I have not finished the book, but this 20 year old man is a pitiful case, pleading with God at every opportunity to hear him and give him the knowledge of grace that he longs for.

   I thought of Adam as I read through Chambers' reading for today.

   "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." (1 John 3:9.) Do I seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In the Bible it is never - Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically - A Christian must not sin. The effective working of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin; it means that if we obey the life of God in us, we need not sin.

   Adam could see that his life did not measure up, and the preachers in his life, reminded him of that fact in their sermons. He could not get past his wretched condition to see the grace that God offered. He felt he was not worthy of salvation, and that God had refused to hear his plea. He was measuring his life by what others said they had experienced in grace, and was going mad in the process.

   Too often my measuring rod is someone else, and the working of God in their lives, when it should be God's revelation to me. What does the Bible say, not what do others say it says. All of us are individuals, and God does not handle all of us in the same way. The basic doctrines of the Book are true for all, but perhaps the way we react to them can be different.

   Jesus is my example and guide. Let me look to Him and not to other men for the confirmation of my faith.

   Hopefully Adam will find that confirmation before the book ends.