Saturday, July 26, 2014

Sin Forgiven – Part 2


Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” I read someone’s response to a discussion on “Sin”, which said; “We are no longer justified by trying to keep the law of “Don’ts”, which is impossible to keep anyway, but are compelled by God’s love to fulfill an even greater law, which is to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourself. Since this is also quite a task and impossible to fulfill, we rely on God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus to see us through and we love and forgive others knowing that we ourselves are sinners also. So yes, we do miss the mark quite a bit on a daily bases, if we are honest with ourselves, but it keeps us humble and dependent on Him and His righteousness and not our own which Isaiah says is filthy rags. So we are sinning saints saved by blood of the Lamb.” Is “missing God’s mark acceptable?

In Matthew 22:36-39 a Pharisee, an expert in the law asked: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If we loved God with all our heart, soul and mind, would we have other gods? Would we make for ourselves idols, then bow and worship them them? Would we vainly misuse the name of the Lord our God? Would we ignore His church and its work in the world? If we loved our fellow man as we loved ourself and did to others as we would want others to do to us, would we dishonor or neglect our father and mother that the Lord gave us and who sacrificially raised us. Would we get angry at or want to hurt or kill them? Would we be unfaithful to our spouse sexually in thought or physically? Would we take something from somebody that didn’t belong to us and we didn’t pay for properly? Would we lie to get what we want or shift rightful blame away from us? Would we be envious and desire what belongs to someone else? Could you imagine the social balance and harmony, if everybody loved God and loved others? Well, unfortunately, sin is in the world, so God’s Laws are necessary. Laws are made for those who break laws. If nobody broke any laws because in their nature lived out daily it never crossed their mind to sin, then the laws would be unnecessary. Jesus was sinless and that’s what we are working towards in the sanctification process.

We are to have God’s laws written upon our heart, pleasing God in our thoughts, words and actions, and growing into the likeness of Christ daily. But, remember that this side of heaven, we are still in the sinful flesh with its desires and temptations that are contrary to the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:16-25), so we need to conscientiously and deliberately walk in the Spirit as a child of God towards our Father in heaven, to not gratify the desires of the flesh walking away from God. It’s not automatic; it takes work on our part, but the indwelling Holy Spirit is our Helper (John 14:15-18). We are dependant upon God. Sin weighs us down, but when true disciples confesses their sins, they agree with God that what they did was wrong; that we have sinned against our just and holy Creator Father God, repent and ask Jesus to cleanse away our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our unrighteousness, because Christ paid for them with His blood on the Cross. We are saved by God’s mercy and grace though faith. We are not to take sin against God and our fellow man lightly (1) because Romans 5:8 tells us: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for usand (2) the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We were bought at a price, redeemed by our Savior and we are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19-20). God is love. God is life. Jesus Christ is Lord. Walk in the Spirit of God sins forgiven and live for Jesus. Dead to sin; Alive in Christ. Rejoice!

Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him (Jesus Christ), that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.


In Christ, Brian

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