Grace Removes Our Sin

”But He [Jesus], having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”      —Hebrews 10:12

There is a story and quote attributed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Homes. Supposedly, Doyle anonymously sent the message, “All is discovered! Flee at once!” to the most influential men in the U. K. The result, it is said, was that within 24 hours, none of those men could be found. 

Similar stories are told about Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, and others. Actual or not, they illustrate the truth that we all have secrets and sins hidden in our closets that we fear might be revealed. Many try to keep locked away the truth of about an alcoholic parent or child, a past affair, a theft or arrest from our youth, stories of abuse, and/or personal weaknesses.

I still remember some of my childhood weaknesses and insecurities that prevented me from having friends sleep over or spending a night at someone else’s house. Those childhood fears often continue into adulthood as we worry that our true, vulnerable self will be found out.

Sadly, many Christians continue to live in fear that their past sins will be revealed to embarrass them or destroy their lives. They live as though Jesus’ death and resurrection were for nothing, as though the blood of Jesus is powerless to remove sin. There is great power in Jesus’ blood! By God’s grace, our sins are not only covered but removed.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The phrase “it is finished” in the language of New Testament Greek has been discovered in old business documents to declare a bill or account as “paid in full.” Jesus died once and for all for our sins. “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Our sins are forgiven, covered, and removed.

My friends, each of us has a past. Each of us has weaknesses and imperfections, but God, who knows us best, also loves us the most. Your sins and past mistakes, failures, and weaknesses have been removed by Jesus Christ. Psalm 103:11-12 encourages us, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

How far have your sins and your past been removed from you? How much does Jesus love you? Think of Jesus stretching His arms out on the Cross, and hear Him saying unto you, “This far. This much.” Jesus loved you from the Cross, and He loves you now. Receive His forgiveness and cleansing. You are forgiven.

Are We There Yet?

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:14

A few years ago, I visited someone in a Pittsburgh Hospital. I had been to this particular hospital before, but I had moved and needed to find a new route. Also different from my earlier trips to this hospital was that I now owned a GPS, Global Positioning System—a computerized map that navigates using data from satellites orbiting the earth.

It all seemed simple enough. I punched the address 5230 Center Avenue, Pittsburgh into my GPS. Everything went well and looked familiar for the first hour, but then the GPS instructions began to take me along the Ohio River to the northwest side of the city. Something was drastically wrong. After several double checks on the address and a brief call to my brother-in-law in Plum, I discovered my destination was Centre Avenue (spelled “re”) and not Center Avenue. It appears your GPS is only as good as the destination you enter.

You may not have a GPS. You may not even own a car, but we all have an internal GPS. We have hopes, dreams, and desires of who we want to become and what we want to achieve in life. We might not write it down, but there is a default setting in each of us that pushes us forward to our destination. As a small baby, it is simply to survive. Eat, p- -p, and sleep. We seek nourishment, love, and protection. As we grow older our goals change to possessions, houses, marriage, children, success, power, winning a $1.6 Billion lottery, or simply peace of mind. 

A good question for each of us to ask ourselves is, “What is my ultimate goal in life?” Or put another way, “What would success look like to me?” People often talk about “when their ships comes in.” What would your ship look like? When would you know that it had have arrived?

The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3 about giving up everything past, present, and future in his life for the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ and having a righteousness that comes by faith in Him (vss. 8-9). His ultimate goal was no longer to be a successful and influential Jewish rabbi. He no longer sought to be the holiest and most law abiding person on earth. Paul now desired to know the power of God that worked in Jesus’ life and to be conformed to Jesus image in power, in sufferings, and even in death. His internal GPS was now set correctly; it was set on Jesus Christ and the resurrection from the dead (vs. 10).

Paul declares that he had not arrived, but he kept pressing on. He could be certain he was making the correct choices and turns because he had the correct destination in mind. He forgot his past goals, past failures, and past accomplishments, and moved forward in his Christian journey. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (3:14).

What is your internal GPS’s destination?  Are you confidently moving closer to God in Jesus Christ? Are you becoming more faithful, more loving, and more like Jesus each year? Jesus has gone before us to Heaven and prepared a place for each of us. Make Jesus the Lord of your life and set your focus, your goals, and your ultimate destination on Him. Let us confidently move forward in this life with peace, joy, and power. Let us focus our eyes on Jesus.

Jesus as Lord

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.     —Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:9 and 10, known by some as the TNT (Ten, Nine and Ten) of the Bible, conclude the Roman Road explanation on the plan of salvation. The Roman Road is a list of verses from the Book of Romans that describes our lost state without Jesus Christ (Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:12) and Jesus as our only hope (5:8, 6:23). Verses 10:9-10 then describe how a person receives forgiveness of their sins and Jesus as Savior, “confess with your mouth” and “believe in your heart.”

I often use only Romans 6:23 because in one verse it describes our helplessly lost state and God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The punishment or wages for our sin is death. Heaven, eternal life, and a right relationship with God through Christ is a gift.

I usually emphasize the need, according to Romans 10:9-10, to personally believe in Jesus as your Savior and to publicly declare to someone else that you are a Christ follower in order to be saved. I have underemphasized for years the confession of Jesus as Lord. The word savior is found around 26 times in the New Testament. The word Lord referring to Jesus as Supreme Ruler and King of our lives occurs over 650 times in New Testament, not counting over 6,000 times in the Old Testament.

Being an American living under democratic principles makes it difficult for us to grasp the fact that God is our Supreme Ruler more like a benevolent king or dictator than an elected official. When we confess Jesus as Lord, we are surrendering our lives to His Kingdom principles, His protection, and His plan. When speaking of Jesus as our Savior only, we may confuse the work of Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin with the position of Jesus as Lord of our lives. Jesus as Lord, King, and boss of our lives reflects His position. Jesus as Savior describes the benefit we receive when we make Jesus Lord.

My wife, Darlene, and I are currently away on vacation. My wife receives rest and re-creation by being very active: doing crafts, seeing sights, and shopping. I, on the other hand, am very content to sit on the beach, take a nap, and watch a movie. This past week, there have been times when I have sat idly by and waited for Darlene to prepare the meal, set the table, and serve me dinner. I usually do help where I can, but knowing her need to be active, I have done less than usual.

Darlene is my wife; that is her position. Darlene as an excellent cook, neat housekeeper, and babysitter of my grandchildren describes a few of the benefits we receive. Her position is my wife; her work is the many, many things she does for me, my family, and others.

Have you made Jesus Christ the Lord and Supreme Ruler of your life? Jesus becomes our Savior, forgives our sins, and gives us eternal life when we allow Him to reign over our lives. If you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart, you shall be saved. God loves you and has the absolute best plan for your life. Trust Him as Lord.  Make Jesus the King of your life.