The F Word
Isn’t it ironic how Christians tend to argue against something they actually say to entice non-believers to be a part of their ‘church’? If you haven’t thought about it, wait until you finish this blog about your permanent identity. Last week, we talked about having a victorious mentality since the victorious One lives in you. This week, you’re Effed!!
That’s right, you’re FORGIVEN. We tell people they are already forgiven by God, they just need to believe it. Then, we refuse to believe it about ourselves because we still sin. Thank God our identity is not performance based but positionally sound in Christ. You’re forgiven, no ifs, ands, or buts. Still don’t believe me? If you didn’t physically exist during the brutal murder of Jesus, yet He forgave the world of their sin in that moment, how many of your sins were actually forgiven? That’s right…ALL. That means all of your sins - past, present, and future - all forgiven. That even means the sins you forget to ‘confess’ are all forgiven. Isn’t it crazy to believe that the Gospel is actually GOOD NEWS?!?!
I’ll take it a step further. Forgiveness happened 2,000 years ago when God reconciled the world to Himself through Jesus. But now, we’re not just forgiven…we’re justified. Justified means ‘just as if we’ve never sinned.’ See, what Jesus did on the cross actually makes us innocent, never guilty, permanently forgiven. How can I say that? Those aren’t my words, those are the words of several different authors of Scripture who write that God takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), remembers our sin no more by nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:17-18), that God has removed our transgressions as far as the east is to the west (Psalm 103:12), and even Isaiah prophesied this would happen through the Messiah (Isaiah 43:25). In Christ there is no more condemnation (John 3:18, Romans 8:1). If God does not remember our sins, why do we? In fact, the more we remember our sins the more of a problem sin is. This is why many can never overcome their ‘issues’ because they’re focusing more on their behavior than their Savior. We must let go of our past and cast our own sin away from our memory because Christ already has.
The only way God could bring us into perfect union with Him is if He refuses to allow sin to be put in our account. So if sin makes us unclean, imperfect, impure, and unholy…but it’s not in our account…we might be more clean, perfect, pure, and holy than we think. Then the religious person responds - but won’t that create pride?!?! Impossible, because we didn’t clean ourselves up. Jesus did it on our behalf. Usually in anger, the next religious response is - but won’t people willingly keep on sinning if they know they’re permanently forgiven?!?! Impossible, because knowing we’re forgiven actually empowers us to destroy whatever illusion of sin we think separates us from God. Everything we think we want in sin actually gets fulfilled in Christ AND THEN SOME. It produces actual joy, peace, and love. The people who abuse forgiveness don’t live with joy, peace, and love. I believe there is nothing that satisfies our soul more than resting secure in the presence of God knowing we’re completely forgiven.
Grace does not give us freedom to sin, it empowers us to live free with Jesus. As Pastor Bill Vanderbush says, “Grace disempowers sins ability to manipulate God out of loving you. Grace does not have the power to tell God whether or not He can love and accept you. That would make the power of sin greater than the power of righteousness.” No one can claim forgiveness apart from Christ yet in Christ we’re made complete, holy, without blemish, and free from accusation because it’s not based on our efforts, it’s based on His! And that’s the good news! We’re forgiven and there is nothing we can do about it.