he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5
"Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:10,11
The last few weeks, every message I've heard and everything I've read has pointed to one specific area, and one specific thing. And that is sin, and the idea of sin. I think I've posted a bit on this here and there, but I wanted to take a minute and try and get all these random thoughts into one place. So much of what we see and read as Christians is about the idea that we are all sinners. And, of course we are, we are all human, after all.
But then, somewhere in our lives we made a commitment, a covenant. We asked Jesus to become a part of our lives, and made the decision to do our best to live for him. When we accepted Jesus as our savior, that life of sin was washed away. And it should have stayed that way. We changed the moment we accepted Jesus... we were cleansed by his blood, and healed by his wounds. That life of sin should have been no more. And along with it, the thoughts that I am a sinner and am unworthy. I became a new person in Christ Jesus... so why is it that a good core part of my Christian life has been focused on sin? Part of our purpose, part of the reason for being, is that we are to grow as Christians, we are to become more like Jesus, become more righteous and more like Jesus every day so that when the time comes, we are worthy enough to be in the presence of God when we are in heaven. Jesus made this possible by dying for us, by covering us with His blood.
"just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Ephesians 5:25-27
Read that verse again! According to that passage in Ephesians, Jesus cleansed us already, and we should not be a people of sin once we've made the commitment to follow Jesus. Yet we are...and we do... and that tells me that the devil is doing a happy dance because he's managed to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes. Even after we've made our choice, the enemy continues to tell us that we're not worthy, that we're a sinner, with all the hopes of getting us to revoke our commitment and return to the ways of this world. Sadly, I suspect he is successful with many.
When we asked Jesus into our hearts- whether as an adult or a child, we became a new person In Him! There is no reason to dwell on the past. When we focus on the bad that happened in our life, focus on the sinner, that sin is going to come back. Instead, we need to put that sin completely behind us. It's in the past, it doesn't matter. We need to look forward. We need to look at today and tomorrow, not what's already been.
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13
When we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were forgiven of all our sins. All. Of. Them. There is absolutely no reason to dwell on them, and yet, we do, and it bogs us down. What is in your mind is what comes out. Think on this.
Think about the person with the mindset that they are a sinner. They constantly think about the sins of the past, and all the mistakes they made. They dwell on those sins, and since they are at the forefront of their mind- it's very easy for them to repeat those mistakes. When an alcoholic is thinking about alcohol all the time, it's much easier for them to reach out and take that drink when the situation presents itself.
Now think about the person with the new mindset. Think about the person who walks with their head held high because their Jesus took their sins away. This person walks with purpose, with the mindset that they are no longer a sinner, that they are clean in the eyes of God. They have faith and confidence that they truly will sin no more. And when the devil tries to tempt them, they laugh at him and tell him that they are a new person and will sin no more.
Which person would you like to be? I, for one, am tired of dwelling on sin, and tired of dwelling on the past. I most certainly am not worthy of the lamb that was slain for me, and as such, I should be living each and every day as if I could repay that debt. I chose to take that life of sin and leave it in the past, and stop dwelling on it. I am a new person, and I choose to live that way.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17
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