Did you know that when Christ died on the cross for our sins, He really did pay for them all? (Colossians 2: 13-14)Did you know that no matter what you may have done in the past, when you become a believer, all of that is wiped away forever? (II Corinthians 5: 17) It may seem too good to be true, but it is.
Jesus called out from the cross in victory not defeat, "It is finished!" (John 19:30) Yes, the most tragic thing happened when they crucified our Lord, but it was also the most important and most glorious moment ever in human history, too. In fact, human history was divided by the birth of Christ, even if men call B.C. now "Before the Common Era" instead of "Before Christ." If that moment had not occurred, there would be no hope at all in this world. (Romans 5: 5-8)
His death on the cross took care of all the sins we committed in the past, presently, or in the future. This is not so called "cheap grace." Jesus Christ poured out His soul unto death for us.(Hebrews 5: 7, Psalm 22: 14) There was nothing more He could give, He poured out His life as a substitutionary sacrifice and all the sins of the world were paid for that one afternoon. That does not mean that all men will be saved, for we must take His free gift as an act of faith. (John 3:16) Our will must agree with God's in believing on the person of His Son.
But think of what this means. Our sins were paid for, so we can truly walk free. Jesus said in John 8:36:
"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
In my own experience, I did not experience that freedom that Christ talked about. Judy told us tonight what the missing ingredient is if we are not presently experiencing Christ's freedom. It is a simple thing, really.
I can either believe what God tells me in His Word or disbelieve it. Even if it feels untrue with all the feelings within me, it is still true. She shared that for years she had struggled with resentment toward another believer. As hard as she tried, she could not make these feelings go away. Have you ever been there? I know I have, way too many times to count.
The more you struggle to get free from sin in your own power, the stronger the sin monster becomes. In I Corinthians 15: 56 God tells us a curious thing about the law. It says:
"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is in the law." That means the more you try, the harder you will fail. But if you have reached that point of failure, as I have, many times, you should rejoice. Why? For then you will realize that if Christ does not perform the righteous deeds that the law commands inside you, it will not be done.
Galatians 2:20-1 tells us that we have been crucified with Christ, and why Christ had to die:
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes by works, then Christ died in vain.
Righteousness will never come by works, but only by Christ living out His life through us. He promised us that we would have "rivers of living water" flow out of our heart in John 7:38. If this isn't our experience, then something is wrong with us, not Him.
We need to believe Him: that He lives in us, that He forgave us all our sin debt. And most importantly, we need to believe that when He died, our old sinful self died right there with Him.
Romans 6: 6 says: "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." We have a choice. We can either let Christ live His life through us, and experience the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control--Galatians 5:22) OR, we can disbelieve it and continue living the lie of the self-life.
He does want us to give up our lives. But that becomes easy when you realize that our lives, without Christ, will only produce misery.
John 15: 5: "I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing."
Here is the "hard saying" of Jesus, which, when you consider the alternative of living gratifying your old nature, becomes a pleasant thing to do. John 12: 25 tells us the absolute Truth:
"He who loves his life {your own right to choose for yourself what you want*} will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." In hating what that old person so craves, we find a new life of joy and peace in Him. We give up the things that have kept us in misery for so long and finally have the life that we truly longed for.
Tonight, I was reminded that it is as easy as a simple decision. No matter how much my flesh will scream at me, God's Word is truer than that voice inside. I simply have to choose with God and His Word. If I fail, I pick myself up and receive a fresh new start every single time. What other religion in this world will offer you that?
It's never too late, we can make that choice and start having His resurrection life pour through us today!
*my added thoughts
Thank you for the concise and accurate summary. I pray that your writings touch and influence the lives of many women. You are an older woman equipped to teach and encourage younger women.
ReplyDeleteJudy Seligman
Thank you Judy, I am blessed. I posted your 2nd link today ((9/18/13) Thank YOU!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Megan