Feeling Condemned?

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Feeling condemned?

Romans 8:34

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us, we are no longer condemned. Condemnation is no longer a word for us to live in fear of. For because of Christ, the enemy cannot make us rejected by God. Now God accepts everyone who believes in His Son Jesus Christ and it does not matter if you slip into sin.

In Christ there is no longer condemnation. This of course does not mean that we are licensed to sin. In fact Christ did not die for us so that we can sin. He died to save us from the consequences of our sins. And when He did, He gave us the power to overcome sin. Those who believe in Christ and His resurrection power no longer have to be overwhelmed by sin. In fact in Titus 2:12, grace teaches us to deny ungodliness.

So why do we need to know that in Christ there is no condemnation? It is because directly or indirectly, we are naturally prone to live in condemnation. Take for example, if you fail an exam, are you still rested or do you feel condemned? If you fail to keep the ten commandments, do you feel condemned? If you fail to make a close one proud, do you feel like you have not done enough? All these are, to me, are examples of being condemned by your failures and mistakes. But fear not, everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails in life. To get to your success is to fail multiple times and learn from it.

What I am getting at is that our Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for you so that you no longer have to feel condemned. Because no sin on earth, nor failures you have made could separate you from the love of God. And as long as we know that, we can remain rested and stressed free because our God does not condemn us. In fact, He just wants to draw us closer to Him.

The One Time Sacrifice

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The One Time Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:12

But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God

Jesus did for us what no one could ever do. What Jesus did for us meant a one-time deal. Your sin, whether past, present or future, has been forgiven. There is no other name by which we must be saved except through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the power of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sin has been put to death and life is victorious because of this one sacrifice. No longer to we have to strive to gain access to God.

In most movies, when you kill evil foe/enemy, the enemy will rise again in the next episode to be stronger. However, in the case of the cross, the devil has been beaten once and for all and we no longer have to tremble at under the devil. Jesus has given us authority to trample over him. By the name of Jesus, every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. In this "movie", it is really happily ever after.

Even though Jesus has done it all, most Christians still live in fear day to day thinking that they need to put in more effort to be sure that they are saved or to be sure that God is not against them. Christians think that the circumstances they go through have something to do with God being angry with them. Christians see numbers, happenings and the supernatural and trust in those things rather than in the God who saved them. Christians debate over who is right in doctrine when we are called to see the finished work at the cross and share it with others. The church is called as one body yet we operate as if there are many bodies, each with their own methods hoping that theirs is the “right” way. Although Jesus has given us the victory, many still live defeated by fear of demons, fear of security, fear of not having enough and fear of survival.

Let us make it clear here. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior came down one time, set everything that needed to be set straight, paid the full price of our salvation, commanded us to share about Him, and sent us the Holy Spirit to give us the grace for victory over every area of our lives, and then went back to heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father. IT IS FINISHED!

The Living Dead

Romans 6:1-14
Thursday, November 11, 2010

We have died to sin and are now living to God. Like the living dead, haha.

“Sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

So grace is not license to sin because if you are under grace, then you have died to sin and sin should no longer be a problem for you to overcome. I remember the day I accepted Christ. Something changed in me that made me alive unto God and all the sins like speaking vulgar or causing trouble were all gone. That was when I was a kid.

I am sure you’ve heard stories of drug users coming to know the Lord and overnight, their habits just disappear. Smokers and alcoholics, when they received the Lord Jesus Christ, turned over a new leaf and stopped altogether their addictions.
Before this, sin had a grasp on us. But after we have been resurrected with Christ spiritually, our habits turn to dust. Now that we live for God, we are no longer in bondage and cannot get out - because God has given us the grace to come out of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us.

So therefore, sin has no more dominion over us. The only problem we have is if we decide to go back to it. Christians who get disappointed with other Christians tend to turn back to habits to “satisfy themselves”. However, now that they are in God, they should know that the only thing that could satisfy them again would be to come into the presence of God.

God has given us the grace to overcome sin. It is like a gift given to us. If it remains unwrapped, then it remains unused. And we all know that an unused gift is like a gift not given at all. So use your gift, the gift of grace, to help you walk the life God has called you to live – that is the higher calling!