Part 4
Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ encourages me to learn more each day about Jesus. One of the things I learned was to:
Be Confident
Most of us, Christians as well as Catholics are not really sure all our past sins has been forgiven. Satan, the accuser always taunts us, and keeps repeating in our ears, “how can you be forgiven for all your many and big sins in the past. You are a hypocrite. You live a double-standard life. One on Sundays and another during the rest of the week”.
Well, my friend, when Jesus died on the cross, He paid for all our sin-debts, past, present and future. Yes, future sins also. On the cross, He cried out “It is finished”. Meaning His mission on earth was to pay all of humanity’s sin-debt to the Heavenly Father, past, present and future.
Bear in mind that God is not bounded by time. He can see your entire life, past, present and future at the same time. (We cannot. We see only up to the next corner). After Jesus shed His blood on the cross for our sin-debt, He ascended to heaven and sat down on the right hand of God the Father.
Why did he sit down. Because His job is done, He died once for all. He is not going to die again for all our future sins. Its done, so rejoice. God the Father no longer sees our sins. He sees only the blood of Jesus covering us.
Then questions like this comes up. “If my future sins are already forgiven, then I can go ahead and sin everyday. After all they are all forgiven already” –
If you really appreciate what Jesus did for you, you will do your very best not to sin anymore. However, since we still have a flesh body, we will still commit sin. For example, you get really angry at someone or your brother – that’s called murder according to the old covenant, the ten commandments. If you lust for a woman in your mind, God calls that adultery. If you break one of the ten commandments, you have broken all. You are a sinner. Please bear that in mind. All of us are sinners.
The only way we can keep from going to hell is to run to Jesus and accept his payment for our sin-debts, promise to do your best to turn away from sin, believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and be your Advocate or representative to God the Father.
What is this about the New Covenant relative to the Old Covenant.*
What is the Old Covenant? What is the New Covenant with our Creator? Understanding this subject can make your life a happier and contented one!!
Jesus’ suffering, shedding of His blood and death on the cross earned for us many unmerited blessings (favor / grace) for us.
His death on the cross is the New Covenant. The law, (ten commandments), is the Old Covenant.
The law was given to Moses so that the world would have the knowledge of what sin is. Ultimately, the law will show you that you truly need Jesus to save you from eternal damnation.
Because of the law, no man can say that he is not a sinner and no man can say that he does not need a Savior, Jesus. The law was not designed to make you godly, but to expose your ungodliness.
Since no one can comply with the requirements of the law, we were destined to go to hell.
Saved by Jesus, the Savior:
But God in His infinite love for us would not allow that to happen. So He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to take the punishment on our behalf. Jesus had to suffer, shed His blood and die on the cross in our place. This supreme act of love for us liberated us from the bondage of sin.
Now, - if we acknowledge or believe that Jesus did indeed pay for our sin-debt by his suffering, shedding of blood and death on the cross, our debts are paid in full. We can now have a personal relationship with God thru Jesus Christ our Savior.
We are now under the New Covenant:
God no longer sees our sins. What He sees is the blood of Jesus covering us. We are now under the grace (which means we are under the unmerited favor) of God. We are no longer under the yoke of the law. We are no longer the slave of sin or the devil. We are now the servants of the Lord.
We no longer serve the devil. We serve the Lord. We are now no longer under condemnation !!!
Unmerited Blessings (favor/grace):
Once we profess our belief and acknowledge Jesus as our Savior we are blessed with:
·a personal relationship with God
· assurance that God will never leave us
·the forgiveness of our sins: past, present & future
·Godly wisdom
·right standing with God
·abundant provisions (goods & funds)
·good health & healing from sickness
·restoration of lost relationships
·good success in our work, career
·becoming a channel of blessings to others
·great patience
·abundant gratefulness to the Lord
·becoming the beloved son of God
·becoming greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved
·greatly improved determination not to miss the mark (not to sin)
·a house in heaven which we did not build
And much, much more:
·Jesus is with you, so everything you do will succeed
·You are now the righteousness of God in Christ
·You do good because you are grateful
Good Habit
One good habit is to browse around in a book store. One day last 2008, I did visit a Christian Bookstore in Houston, Texas, just to browse. And lo and behold, the photo on the cover caught my eyes. It was Pastor Joseph Prince of Singapore on the cover of his first book, I think, (*)“Destined to Reign”, copyright 2007. And then the following year, his second book came out titled “Unmerited Favor”.
(Some people compare him to Joel Osteen).
I strongly recommend that you read these two books. It is Jesus oriented. Pastor Prince has a unique perspective of the truths found in the Bible. For more information: www.josephprince.org.
