“17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 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.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
What a powerful passage of scripture. This topic has been at my heart for weeks and has been a point of wrestling. So the question I have been asking myself lately is: Am I a sinner saved by grace? Or a righteous son of the King?
For so long I used to be haunted by the thought of what Judgment Day will have in store for me. I have committed horrible sins in my past, many of you can relate with me to the feeling of inadequacy. I am not good enough, I still sin, I am I did so many bad things. But for the life of me I cannot find that condemnation in scripture. So what does the Bible say about who I am in the eyes of God?
The Bible says we were chosen before the foundation of the world, we are holy and without blame (Ephesians 1:4). The Bible proclaims we are free of sin and God is the one who has decreed this (Romans 8:33, Revelation 14:4-5). We are children of God predestined into adoption by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5). We are saints and upright (Psalm 74:19, 89:7, 111:1), Gods witnesses (Isaiah 43:10), Righteous (Isaiah 60:21), Redeemed, and Holy people (Ephesians 1:7). Finally, we are free from the final judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). None of these truths are to be used as an excuse for our sin or a way to condone sin but rather a reminder of the way in which God sees us because obedience is a sign of faith and faith is the gift of salvation (Romans 1:5, 5:15).
How is this all possible? How can God see us in that way? How am I not a sinner if I still sin? Paul describes this war waged with sin as only one Christ can win for us for our minds know truth but our flesh loves sin (Romans 7:14-25). So I hope you are encouraged with this you are a holy, blameless, and pure child of God and heir with Christ.
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Gal. 6:4
Grace and Peace
Philemon 1:3
Monday, January 18, 2010
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