The Gospel means good news. Do you really live your live believing that you are truly free, forgiven from your sins? Or do you struggle from day to day, living in doubt, and wondering if the Lord has really forgive you? Do you look at your weakness and struggles fearing that God is displeased and angry with you. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. For the Father himself loves you dearly because you love and believe I came from God. When you trust in me to take away your sins, you are made right in God’s sight. I bore your punishment for sin at the cross and I satisfied God’s anger against you once and for all. (Romans 4:25)
Do you in reality live your life as if you believe the Savior? Have you shed your burden and found rest for your soul? If your answer is I am not sure or I find no peace, God wants you to turn to him.
You must understand it is GOD’s mercy that has cleansed you of your sins. No, you’re not deserving of forgiveness on your own merit. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12.
Some Christians today believe they will find forgiveness and God’s approval by working harder in His kingdom, when in reality they received forgiveness when they receive Christ. GOD’s grace is a ‘free gift’ based on GOD’s mercy and our trust in His promise to cleanse us with the “blood” of His Son Jesus.
It is our belief that GOD forgave us because we trusted His Word enough?
No amount of works you do will gain a entrance into heaven or earn God’s blessings. It was because of his great love for you that God made you alive with Christ even when you were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by your works, so you can not boast. Ephesians 2:4-9. You are not righteous because of how morally upright you are. You are not righteous because you exercise self-control. You are not righteous because you read 10 chapters of the Bible daily. You are not righteous because you feel righteous. But you are the very righteousness of God in Christ solely because the sacrifice of Jesus made you so. When you believe this, your faith is accounted for righteousness.
If you are righteous by your deeds, you don’t need faith. You also don’t need faith to know that you are sinful. But you need faith to believe and declare that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, in the midst of your struggles with temptation and sin. For example, when you feel lousy because you have just shouted at your wife, God wants you to exercise your faith to see yourself as still righteous in the midst of that failure. This living revelation that you are still righteous will give you the strength to love your wife and reconcile things with her. The devil may remind you of your foul temper and question your integrity: “How dare you call yourself righteous when you just did that!” Just ignore his lies and boldly declare, “I am not righteous because of what I have done or not done. I am righteous only because of the blood and finished work of Jesus at the cross!”
God is pleased with you.! He [God] made you accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6 …
When you begin to see God’s passionate love for you, you will have the confidence to say, “I’m free to be me.”
United in love,
Amy
