The 28 Day Forgiveness Challenge — Day 1
My friend, Jim, had a problem. One particular sin kept him in bondage and he couldn’t shake it. As a result, he was 95% sure he was forgiven, but there was 5% of doubt that kept him awake at night.
Maybe that’s the case for you. It was in my life. My prayers were like a broken record. “Lord I did it again. Please forgive me, and I promise I will do better tomorrow.” It was the same with Jim. He prayed. He read his Bible. He went to church. He promised God he would do better and try harder, but he never felt forgiven.
Jim’s five percent of uncertainty was now occupying one hundred percent of his thinking. The security and assurance he once knew gave way to fear and anxiety.
Jim’s story is not unique. His doubts and fears are shared by Christians everywhere. We know Christ died on our behalf, but we are not sure what this means to us on a personal level. As a result, we live in fear of God’s punishment.
A life filled with confusion and doubts and fear is not God’s plan for you. He wants to clear away these negative emotions in your life. Love is His tool.
He displayed His love for you at the cross. Paul explains, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If you want to know what God thinks about you, take a fresh look at the cross. Jesus’ work there brings forgiveness and assurance to your heart.
The place to start to solve the 95/5 problem is the cross. That all important question — “Will God forgive my sin?” — is answered in the death of Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness Challenge #1 – Identify where you stand concerning the forgiveness of your sins. Do you know that all of your sins have been forgiven? Or, are you 95% sure, 80% sure of 50% sure your sins have been forgiven? If you have doubts, are you willing today to take fresh look at Christ’s finished work on the cross?
Study Colossians 2:13 and insert your name every place it says your, you, or all.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all of our sins….(Colossians 2:13).
Tag: Forgiveness
Seven things you need to know about repentance
On yesterday’s broadcast, someone asked about repentance. We have discussed this at length before. You can listen to that broadcast below.
I also spoke about repentance recently at Metro Bible Fellowship. You’ll find it at the end of this post as well.
When it comes to repentance there are seven things that are important to know.
- Repentance is a big word, a God word.
- Repentance is initiated by God. In Acts 18:11, Luke wrote that God granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.
- Repentance is a change of mind and it conveys the idea of turning from sin to God. Bonnell Thornton described repentance this way: Some often repent, yet never reform; they resemble a man traveling in a dangerous path, who frequently starts and stops, but never turns back. Repentance covers the whole process of turning from sin to God.
- Repentance is most often used to describe the conversion of the lost. It is the process of going from unbelief to belief in Jesus Christ.
- Repentance is accompanied by godly sorrow. This is much deeper than merely feeling sorrowful for getting caught doing something wrong. Godly sorrow recognizes the emptiness of the life of sin and the painful consequences it brings about in the lives of others. 2 Corinthians 7:10
- Repentance cannot be reduced to a formula. Confessing sins and asking God to forgive those sins does not equal repentance. Far too many believers apply this formula on a daily basis, yet never experience a change of heart or mind.
- God’s kindness leads us to repentance. “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Romans 2:4) This kindness is most clearly seen and experienced through faith in the finished work of Jesus regarding the forgiveness of sins.
I’ll end this post by sharing two quotes on repentance.
Evangelical repentance is repentance of sin as sin: not of this sin nor of that, but of the whole mass. We repent of the sin of our nature as well as the sin of our practice. We bemoan sin within us and without us. We repent of sin itself as being an insult to God. Anything short of this is a mere surface repentance, and not a repentance which reaches to the bottom of the mischief. Repentance of the evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but leave the disease in the flesh. —Charles Haddon Spurgeon
True repentance will entirely change you; the bias of your souls will be changed, then you will delight in God, in Christ, in His Law, and in His people. –George Whitefield
Broadccast:
Metro:
What's in a Name?
Joseph was conflicted. What should he do about Mary?
She was pregnant, and he wasn’t the father. After looking at all the options, he decided to divorce her quietly.
But that wasn’t God’s plan.
An angel appeared to Joseph with this message: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus…”
Why that name?
Because that name has meaning. It speaks of Jesus’ mission — “he will save his people from their sins.”
But how? Consider these three points.
- Jesus frees us from the punishment of sin.
- Jesus delivers us from the power of sin.
- Jesus will eventually remove us from the presence of sin.
Jesus Christ is our savior in every sense of the word. He saves us completely from our sins.
That’s what is in His name.
9/11…We Remember
Today is the 12 year anniversary of the tragic events that occurred September 11, 2001. It is not an occasion to celebrate. Simply one to remember and to contemplate our place in the world.
We do have a place and a role to play.
Several years ago, on the 10th anniversary, I shared what I believe the Bible says about the role we play in this world. I issued a challenge as well.
You can watch that message now
Video streaming by Ustream
or here — http://metrobiblefellowship.org/video.php?id=3365
The message still holds today. It is time for us to rise up and to fully live out who we are in this world.
You can make a difference.
Basic Gospel — Your Sins Have Been Forgiven
Forgiveness ranks as the number one topic of discussion on the Basic Gospel broadcast. Here are three things we have learned from all the questions that have been asked about this critical issue:
- The forgiveness of God is greatly misunderstood,
- People like to argue about forgiveness,
- People long to have forgiveness.
You can understand why forgiveness is such a hot topic. All of us sin. This reality raises numerous questions in our minds.
- What do I do when I sin?
- How can I know that God has forgiven my sin?
- If He has forgiven me, why do I keep doing the same sin over and over?
Here is the good news. All of these questions are answered by the three words Jesus uttered from the cross, “It is finished!”
Jesus paid the debt in full. Nothing more needs to be done, or can be done concerning forgiveness of sins.
I wished I had known this truth early in life.
With each sin I committed in those days, I felt I needed to do something to get it forgiven. I prayed. I promised. I studied the Bible. I made deals with God. But nothing changed. The sad reality was I believed what I did after I sinned was more important in securing forgiveness than the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
I wanted His forgiveness so badly, but in spite of all my efforts, I never felt forgiven.
The glorious truth is that there was nothing I could do to gain God’s forgiveness. Jesus had already done the work. He forgave all of my sins. His shed blood took them away once and for all.
When His finished work finally hit my heart, the weight of guilt lifted from my shoulders. And something even better happened. The love of God broke through to my soul. It was the first time that I knew, I mean really knew, that He loved me.
This is what I wanted more than anything. I think we all want to truly know that God loves us. Forgiveness is the truth that makes God’s love real to us.
Just three simple words comprise the most powerful, life-changing phrase in the entire Bible.
It is finished!
These three words can change your life.
The Verdict
My good friend, Frank Reed, hosts the morning show on KLTY in Dallas. The breaking news Saturday, July 13th was the George Zimmerman verdict. Frank wanted to say something and knew he needed to say something about the case that next Monday morning. As he prayed about what to say, his mind turned to his relationship with the Lord and a verdict that was given that changed his life forever.
I read his words yesterday. I immediately asked Frank if I could share his thoughts with you. I know you will be blessed and encouraged. Please post your comments once you read Frank’s article.
The Verdict. By Frank Reed July 15, 2013 (as heard on 94.9 KLTY)
The prosecution continued to make their case. It was quite a team he assembled. The best of the best. One by one the accusations came. It seemed to go on for hours. I tried to keep a stiff upper lip, you know, play the poker face thing. But my demeanor sooner, rather than later, had the look of total defeat. Every accusation was true, what could I say, what could I do?
You know the story of the kid with his hand in the cookie jar? Multiply that feeling a thousand times, and it still wasn’t even close to the way I felt. One by one the offenses were laid out. Pride, arrogance, selfishness, greed, lust, envy. The list went on. The weight on my heart felt like the size of an ocean liner. I was utterly, totally, helpless. There was nothing I could say. I was guilty and I knew it.
The only thing left, was the verdict, and my sentence. I had done my homework. I knew what the sentence was. I knew my prospects of surviving this nightmare were absolutely zero. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the lead prosecutor, the accuser, began his closing argument. This guy made his associates look like school children. Every wrong thought, motive, and action, was told. Then, it ended. “Your honor, the prosecution rests”.
At that moment, there was only one thing I could think of; The Verdict. I sat there, totally ashamed, humiliated, defeated. And then, it happened. A touch on my shoulder. It was him. He was there next to me the whole time. “Frank” he told me. “Hold your head up son, I’ve got this”.
With those words, he stood up and approached the bench. His voice was loud, strong, and crystal clear. “Father”, he said. “On a train heading into Manhattan, in June 1982, Frank made a conscious decision of his heart to follow me. He has not done things perfectly, far from it. At many times I thought, son, what in the world are you doing? But here’s the bottom line; when I died on the cross, I took away his sin. Every single one, past, present, and future. It is written, there is now no condemnation for him. He is undeniably, without a shadow of a doubt, one of mine. I paid his penalty”.
And then I heard it. The words that would set me free. The words that would give me purpose and a reason for living while on earth, and the words that would usher me one day into heaven. It was The Verdict. And it was not guilty. And you can be declared not guilty, too.
Do You Have Assurance of Salvation?
Can a Christian have assurance of salvation? According to the Bible, the answer is “Yes!”
The Apostle John wrote in his first letter these encouraging words: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).
There is no wishful thinking in John’s statement. He boldly asserted that we can know with full confidence that eternal life is ours, that our salvation is sure.
For John’s words to become a reality in your life, you must understand what salvation truly is and what Christ accomplished for you through His death, burial and resurrection.
Paul gives us the most succinct statement concerning the nature of salvation in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
You and I come into this world under the wages of sin, dead spiritually. Ephesians 2:1 puts it this way, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” In other words, we were not just sinners in need of forgiveness; we were spiritually dead and in need of life.
Salvation, then, is God’s act of making us alive in Christ. The following passages spell this out in detail.
- But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– Eph 2:4-5 (ESV).
- And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses Col 2:13 (ESV).
- To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory Col 1:27 (ESV).
So, salvation is going from death to life. Jesus described it this way; “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
Jesus’ death on the cross guarantees that your salvation is secure. Through His death, Jesus took your sins and paid the penalty that you justly deserved. Your sins were judged. The verdict was guilty, and the punishment was death. God was satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Jesus dealt with sin once and for all.
The writer of Hebrews shows the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice: “Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin” (Hebrews 10:17-18).
Your eternal life is secure because of the eternal consequences of the cross.
When Jesus saves, He does so completely. Because of the cross, you can know with confidence that “He will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
Why is this so hard to say?
“I’m wrong.”
It is hard for these words to roll off the tongue.
Pride doesn’t want to admit it. Fear won’t allow us to admit it.
Our pride tells us we are basically good people. Admitting that we are wrong might sully that good reputation.
Our fear doesn’t want to deal with the “potential” consequences.
Neither is of the Lord.
God calls us to walk in truth. Often times that means admitting we are wrong. The Bible calls this confession. It is simply agreeing with God.
Knowing that Jesus loves us puts our fleshly pride and fear in their place. Trust Him. Walk in truth. Go ahead and say those dreaded words, “I’m wrong.”
It will work together for good, just as He promised.
I Can’t Let Go of the Past
Oh, the things we have done in the past.
Maybe it’s not things plural. It could be just one thing that haunts us and makes life miserable for us today.
Like the guy who thought he was eternally condemned because of something he said about God during his teenage years.
Or the lady who bases her self-image on a one-night-stand she had in college.
Yes, these sins have their consequences, and in both of these cases, the consequences have been severe. So severe, that the sins of the past are ruining their lives today.
Is there a way to let go of those sins? Is there a way to leave them in the past?
The Bible answers with a resounding “Yes!” And this answer is tied to forgiveness.
The word forgiveness means to send away or to let go. When the Bible says that your sins have been forgiven, it means that Christ has…
- Removed your sins from you – Psalm 103:12
- Sent your sins away – Hebrews 9:28
- Dismissed your sins – Romans 4:7
- Let your sins go from His further notice or care – Hebrews 10:17, 18
- Released you from your relationship with sin and death and set us free to experience new life in Christ – Romans 8:1, 2.
Here is the good news. Jesus Christ does not dredge up your past sins and use them against you.
He judged your sins and suffered the penalty of death for them. Then, He sent them away.
Let this truth soak in.
You will realize there is no need to let your past sins enter the equation in determining your present or your future.
The work of Jesus defines who you are today. In the past you were a sinner. But not now. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God, totally forgiven and perfectly loved.
Have you struggled with letting go of the past?
How Many of Your Sins Have Been Forgiven?
My favorite passage is in the book of Colossians. (It is hard to pick a favorite, I know, but if I had to, this one would be it.)
Here it is.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:9-15 (NIV)
Here are the reasons this passage tops my list of favorites.
- It starts with Christ and ends with Christ. In six verses, Paul explains who Jesus is and the meaning of His death, burial and resurrection.
- I learned that my real problem was spiritual death, and that something had to happen to me before change could take place in my life. I had tried to be God’s guy, but my efforts came up woefully short.
- In the plainest language possible, it states that all my sins have been forgiven.
- It also tells me that the law of sin and death has been taken away.
- It declares that my enemy was defeated and disarmed through Christ’s triumphant victory at the cross.
- It tells me that I am complete, or have fullness, in Jesus Christ.
Some thirty years ago is when this passage hit my heart. I was confused about Christianity, and why I was such a colossal failure as far as my Christian life was concerned. Paul’s straight forward words flipped a switch in my understanding. I felt forgiven and that there was hope for me. The weight of trying to do it on my own was lifted. But more than anything, I felt alive.
Perhaps you feel defeated in your Christian life, or that you are mired in guilt and shame. It could be that you sense an emptiness deep within your heart, or that something is just plain wrong with you. If so, read this passage carefully. Jesus knows where you are. Who He is and what He accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection can change who you are. This passage was the catalyst for me to look to Him. I pray it will be the same for you.