Romans 5:7-9

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Couldbes & the Shouldabens (part 4)

...continued
Statements about who I am:

1 John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

So we may presume from the local of verse nine that Christians sin; If we say we have no sin, or that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and we make God out to be a liar and God’s Word—the Truth—is not in us; Christians are cleansed from all sin and we do walk in the light, however we do still sin.

The point is, God is faithful because He forgives the sins of those who confess them, and He is just in doing so. So, worry not about God’s faithfulness if you confess your sins; we have been cleansed if we find ourselves practicing the confession of our sins, then we can rest in the fact that God has cleansed us from all unrighteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In the simple statement of the imputation of our guilt to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to us, we can find the most profound reason to trust God and not to worry in the midst of suffering or trial. What better reason for us to “count it all joy” than the realization of this precious truth in the gospel! Even as we morn the death of a parent, a child, or a friend, we can find joy in the faithfulness of God through the gospel. Whatever He does, He does for our good, and we can echo the words of Job when he said, “though He slays me, I will hope in Him.”

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

In Christ we are new creatures, ones capable of obeying God. The biblical statements of the permanence of our faith are the standard by which we must both measure our assurance and fill up the hope of our lives.

to be continued...

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