Wednesday, May 16, 2012

No Longer Guilty

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. (19) For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. (20) So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" (21) For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Every person you meet today is equally loved by the Father. He has no favorite children. We are His ambassadors to share the good news with them. The good news is that He’s not mad at them and doesn’t hate them. Though they are sinners, their sin debt has been canceled. All they need to do is to bow their knee in repentance acknowledging their sin. The blood of Jesus will then remove their personal sin debt, and they go free.
 
This is the truth that brought me into the family of God years ago. I had the idea that the Father was mad at me, and that all He did was brood over my sin when He thought of me. When I found out that He did not hold my sin against me, hope sprang up! I saw that if I acknowledged my wrong, forgiveness for all my past deeds was immediately available.
 
A guy said to me, did you know that God is not holding your sin against you, that He loves you? The only thing holding you back from His love is your lack of relationship with Jesus Christ. In Christ, your sin debt is cancelled, and you are free!
 
No one had ever put it to me in those terms. My sin debt is canceled. For a person consumed with guilt, that’s a big deal! Finding out that the Father had already dealt with the sin issue freed me to come to Him, confess my sin, and embrace His free offer of grace.
 
Don’t beat the unsaved person over the head with angry words and tones. They have enough condemnation to deal with. Show them the love of the Father. Be a good ambassador as you represent the Father today. Let others know that in Christ their sin debt is settled. The only thing that stands between them and God the Father is their lack of relationship with Jesus!
 
It’s a great thing to be forgiven all your past sins! Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (Psalm 32:1-2). There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
  
Be a beacon of light to those you meet today! A free gift is theirs today for the taking! Because of Christ, we are no longer guilty.

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