Forgiven- that’s what we are – and it’s completely because of His Grace! He paid the ransom, in FULL, and delivered us from death. We have freedom and liberty in Christ now and that alone is reason for JOY.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7)
I don’t know about you, but I have sinned even since giving my heart to Him, much to my dismay. It always hits me hard that no matter much I try, I just can’t be perfect all the time.
To sum it up, I am human, and so are you! We will mess up- sometimes it is a one-incident offense and other times, we will wrestle with sin we didn’t know we had for an entire season!
I do not have the power to keep myself from the side-step of sin or to cleanse myself from its trespasses, but I sure know the One Who does!
We are forgiven in Christ
So many mindsets out in the world would judge and condemn us because of our lack of “perfection”. The enemy would love to convince us that we’ve blown it to the point of no return and that we should just give up– But not our God!
Hebrews 4:13-15 says: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.…”
He is faithful to forgive us when we ask
He knows us, sin and all. And if we are willing to go to Him, He will do the humanly-impossible task and forgive the sin, remove it and replace it with righteousness. This is Good News!
Some think that if you profess to know Christ, then you will never sin, oh how I wish that were true. But we are not without hope! We who believe know that we are forgiven and we depend on Him for our righteousness!
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7)
In Him we have redemption!
Through the precious blood of Jesus- the forgiveness of my sins (& yours!) was made possible in accordance to the riches of God’s marvelous Grace.
Let’s take a look at some key words in the verse above:
Redemption- G629 (Strong)- apolutrōsis From a compound of G575 and G3083; (the act) ransom in full, that is, (figuratively) riddance, or (specifically) Christian salvation: – deliverance, redemption
What I love about the word apolutrosis is that the actual ACT of redemption means ‘ransom in full‘. This means the work has already been provided- redemption is ours through Christ and Christ alone.
We are forgiven. We can’t work any harder and make ourselves worthy of deliverance because it’s already been done, glory to God!
Forgiveness- G859 (Strong)–aphesis From G863; freedom; (figuratively) pardon: – deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.
Pardon. It’s what the King has granted us even though we didn’t deserve it. When I look at all my collective sin throughout my life, I want to tell God to just lock me up and throw away the key!
I don’t deserve such freedom or the liberty I have. Nothing I’ve done has earned my deliverance. Yet Jesus, the Lamb of God paid for it with His Blood, citing a covenant with the Father in unconditional Love.
There is no way around it- He took my place so I could be forgiven.
The knowledge of this humbles me and brings forth worship and thanksgiving forever from my heart.
Sins-G3900 (Strong)-paraptōma From G3895; a side slip (lapse or deviation), that is, (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression: – fall, fault, offence, sin, trespass.
I went through a season a few years back where I was willfully sinning AND unintentionally sinning. Life had become so overwhelming and in short, I completely fell apart.
It was like a domino-effect and I felt completely powerless to stop it. There were people on my right who would have gladly excused my sin away, and there were people on my left who, like the Pharisees, would have gladly sentenced me to death.
But then, right there in the center was Jesus, who through another person altogether said to me, “This is just a bump in the road that God will use for His Glory. Keep looking to Him and keep calling on Him.”
A side slip, an error, a trespass, an offense, a sin. Whatever fault that is glaring at you, Jesus paid the price for all of it so you could be forgiven and that price was paid in full.
I am so very thankful that my sins are never too great that He cannot wash me clean from them, and that He is tenderly willing to do so.
A few more words to define:
Riches -G4149 (Strong)- ploutos From the base of G4130; wealth (as fulness), that is, (literally) money, possessions, or (figuratively) abundance, richness, (specifically) valuable bestowment: – riches.
I am so GLAD that forgiveness is not dependent on my riches, on my abundance. No, it’s dependent on the abundance that comes from Christ!
Grace- G5485 (Strong)–charis From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).
It is through the riches of His grace that we are forgiven
God’s grace is rich enough for our sin and abundant enough to provide forgiveness. Trust me when I tell you: He can absolutely handle it, and without our help!
Beloved, you are not the sum total of your sin. You are more than the mistakes you have made, but you will only see that if you come to your High Priest and allow Him to do His Work in you. He is patient, kind, loving, gentle and humble.
Jesus doesn’t “lord” His righteousness over you– He puts it in IN you! He understands your struggles and willingly wants to help you through them. God will not throw you away at the first sign of trouble- or the hundredth time of trouble for that matter– He loves you THAT much!
Let’s Pray:
Father I praise You for the redemption and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Forgive me for __________________ and help me to become more like You. Instruct me in Your Ways that I might not sin against You. Thank you for the riches of Your Grace and the abundance of Your Love. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Dive Deeper
Some more scriptures to study on your own:
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Words to pay attention to: crucified, lives, life, faith, loved, gave himself
Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Words to pay attention to: died, life, hidden
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Words to pay attention to: condemnation
1 John 2:1 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
Words to pay attention to: sin, advocate
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Words to pay attention to: confess, faithful, just, forgive, sins, purify, unrighteousness
I’ll see you next week with another Reflection truth!
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