My Thoughts

Monday, August 15, 2016

“These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11. NRSV).

When you surrendered to the Lord and submitted to that burial and resurrection with Him, it was the happiest day of your life (Romans 6:3-6; Acts 2:40)! You felt clean. Your guilt had vanished. Jesus had taken all your sins away. God would remember them no more (Hebrews 10:17). You had never felt so good. That was on a Monday.

When Sunday rolled around you were still feeling wonderful. You were saved! Then the preacher straightened you out with his words. The hair on the back of your neck stood out! He had just stated that each time you sinned, you no longer had fellowship with God. Unless you quickly repented and prayed asking for forgiveness, you would lose your soul if you dropped dead before doing so!

The preacher’s remarks made you remember that Friday incident at work. Your temper had flared and an old word which you thought would never be spoken again, came rolling off your tongue. That had been your lifestyle for more than 30 years, but you quickly acknowledged your wrongdoing. Your apology greatly surprised the one you had spoken to. You had thought that your regretted error was sufficient and took care of your mistake. The preacher pulled the rug out from under that conclusion.

You thought, “I’ve been lost since Friday. If I had died before I could receive forgiveness, I would have gone to hell. All the great feelings I had about being saved were lies. I wasn’t in fellowship with Jesus.” The preacher continued, saying that anyone with sin needed to come forward to regain their salvation.

God stated about David, “I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.” (Acts 13:22 NRSV).

In spite of David impregnating Uriah’s wife and then having Uriah killed, David prayed, “Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11 NRSV).

If the Holy Spirit had not been taken from David at the time he offered that prayer, God was still residing with him.

David was not a perfect man, yet notice this statement about him,

“Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:5 KJV).

Notice how God’s grace saw the rest of David’s life. Was his imperfection only in “the matter of Uriah the Hittite”? If God’s grace blessed David with Divine fellowship in spite of his imperfections, how much more will His grace and the blood of Jesus cover ours? Does this give you the right to see how much you can sin? No (Romans 6:1). But, neither does it mean that after each sin, you find yourself outside His fellowship and lost. Under the Law system of Moses one infraction made you guilty of transgressing all of that Law. However, you are not under that Law now, but under a better covenant (Hebrews). Some make the second covenant an extension of the first and remove grace. According to Paul, when one is buried and raised with Christ, he dies to sin and is free of its consequences (Romans 6). The saved sinner continues in fellowship with Christ Jesus and is continually cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (1 John 1:7).

Rejoice in your forgiveness. Be grateful that your sins are being cleansed by Jesus’ blood. Be happy that you remain in God’s fellowship. Be thankful that you have received the righteousness of God which makes you whole! Praise God for your salvation!! Enjoy His grace! Share your joy with others!