Many people believe that grace is a means in which they are to live in sin under a cloak of forgiveness, rather than a means by which God creates in us a new heart that delights in obedience to Him and His teaching.  Now the former persons are likely those who do not struggle with sin, and mistakenly call themselves “Christians”.  This word of encouragement is not for them, their professed faith is betrayed by the fruit of their heart in passivity towards their sin (1 John 3:9).  The testing of their faith (2 Cor 5:13) proves it to be false, and they by their actions, mockers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For those of us in the latter group, however, we delight in being reconciled to God, in knowing Him, and pursuing obedience to Him with our whole heart.  Yet, for all the change God has already wrought, we are not perfect (or anywhere close) – sin still dwells in us, and bears fruit at times.  I want to write an encouragement to those faithful, believing Christians, who delight in obedience to God, are putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Rom 8:13), yet still fall.

Hebrews 8:12 – “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 

If you are in Christ, every one of your sins was paid for through the shed blood of Christ.  As such, while we can hurt our fellowship with God by our sin, it will never follow us.  We are not storing up wrath for ourselves, to be unleashed upon the judgment of God, as are non-believers (Rom 2:4-6).

Numbers 23:19 – “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Has he said, and will he not do it?  Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

When God has told us that our sins are forgiven in Christ, and by His blood, He will remember our sins no more, and that through Him we have been reconciled to God by the payment of our sins (1 Peter 3:18), we can KNOW that God is not going to change His mind.  His Word endures forever, even into eternity.

Knowing that the promises of God are true, because God is unchangingly True, and will never change His mind, we should rest in the salvation we have in Christ.  Even more, we should be eager to quickly confess our sins to Him, that God would restore our fellowship, cleanse us, and continue drawing us closer to Him through the obedience wrought by the Holy Spirit in us.  We hate our sin, but we cannot ignore it – it must be dealt with.  For us, our sin was dealt with on the cross, and that is where we must turn in prayer.

1 John 1:8-10 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Finally, know that the nature of God towards us is no longer one of vengeance, but of a loving Father.  For non-believers, God can only be seen as a fierce judge, but to us He loves us, delights in fellowship with us, and pursues us, even when we may be far from Him.

Lamentations 3:22-26 – “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

My exhortation is this.  Turn to the Lord – daily and often.  There is no longer any anger in Him towards us, we only hurt ourselves for not approaching Him.  He loves us, and there is no better place to be, than in prayer with God, confessing sin, and praising God for the once and final payment made through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Adam