I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
Hosea 8:5 (ESV)
The Lord has spurned the idols of the people. He has rejected their false worship given to worthless man-made objects. He has spurned the depraved inclination of their heart’s intention and asks a rhetorical question to bring to mind the state of their soul. By asking aloud about the duration of this incapability of innocence, the Lord is bringing into full focus the utter depravity of the people. They are incapable of innocence. Not that they fail to be innocent or have neglected to be innocent, but that they are completely incapable of innocence. Apart from Christ, this is true of me as well.
As the Word brings to the foreground of my thoughts this idea of my incapability to be innocent, it draws me to Romans 7. There is Paul’s writing on the depravity of man and the battlefield that exists in every person’s heart to either live in obedience or to live in sin. My heart has the same battleground and the same stakes. Just like Paul, I too can say that when I want to do good, evil is right there beside me. The enemy knows that my renewed heart now desires the things of God. I delight in the Word of God and I desire to seek him and know him and be known by him. Yet, evil is right there with me. Sin wages war with me, even within me. It’s not just the world and the enemy that are against me, but my very flesh wages war against me. The members of my own body have a law of sin that threatens to entangle and trap me in sin.
It seems hopeless at times. I feel helpless at times. I feel defeated at times. But this is not the truth of the story. Why does God raise this rhetorical question concerning our incapability of innocence? He wants to awaken within me the understanding that I am truly and most certainly depraved and incapable in and of myself. I need an outside righteousness to cover me. I need an outside innocence to dwell within my heart. Yes, God is reminding me of my incapability to point me to the One who is not only capable of innocence but is innocence itself… Jesus.
This is the point I am meant to get through my cold, hard heart. I need the spiritual warmth of Jesus in my heart. I need that raging fire kindled within me that can only ever be fueled by the Spirit of Christ and the love of the Father. My first stop on the journey, as is always the case, is humility. I must recognize my incapability of innocence and humble myself to seek, accept, and receive the gift of grace and mercy from Jesus alone. In my humbleness, I will understand that I can never add to this perfect innocence that comes from Jesus. I am only to receive it and live my life fully trusting and believing in the good grace of God. My incapability reveals my weakness and need for a Savior. As I grow to understand my weakness, I will grow in my love and thankfulness for my Savior. A love for the One that came from Heaven above to rescue lost sinners like me. And that is exactly what I am… a weak and humble sinner trusting in Christ alone to make me capable of innocence before the Lord.