What We Believe Matters - Part 4: One Little Slip

 

02-15-2022

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God,"

 - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

 - I John 1:5-10.

We’re not sure when it began, but at some point in human history someone decided to perpetuate the visual concept of God as a Divine Being who sits on a great big throne waiting to throw lightning bolts to snuff us out as soon as we make one mistake. After all, didn’t he send the flood to wipe out everyone (minus 8 and some nice animals) because they were constantly sinning?

Missy and I have discussed with many people the idea we had as young people that God’s only desire was to keep a constant lookout on us in order to “catch us in the act” of doing something wrong. Why? So we could not enter heaven - instead sliding into Hell (Hell, there is an interesting subject for future discussion). As the old song went, “God’s gonna get you for that…”

Look, it’s no lie to say God hates sin. He despises it. It cost him the life of his one and only Son, Jesus. As a matter of fact, we are told in the Revelation of Jesus Christ (otherwise known as “Revelations” by those who do not read it) that: “The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and they will be My child. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death,” - Revelation 21:7&8.

It seems that for the last 2,000 years people who believe in Jesus have focused on those last two verses rather than the verses at the top. We highlighted it for you: God through Jesus wants to forgive people of their sins, not counting them against them AND if we confess (agree with God) that we have broken his law, God is true to his word to forgive us and make us clean. The Bible calls this justification - “just as if I’ve never sinned.”

The clear truth of the Old and New Testament is this: “Every single one of us has sinned and we all fall short of the glory of God (BUT!!!!) we have been and continue to be justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.…” (Romans 3:23&24). It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

It has nothing to do with what you’ve done or left undone; what you’ve said or left unsaid.
It has nothing to do with what you’ve given or have not given, attended or not attended.
It has nothing to do with your intelligence, talent, color, upbringing, education, or determination.
It has nothing to do with you…or me.

It’s all about God - the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, it’s not about what you’ve done wrong or what you will do wrong. It’s about what God did right. On the cross and over the grave. Your life is not about “getting caught” for what you’ve done wrong. Life is about being freed and living in that freedom - from self and sin.

As we watch the Olympics we are reminded of people being judged on what they’ve done wrong. One small slip of the ski, one minute misstep of the skate, one tiny and awkward slide of the snowboard…each of these almost invisible moments are grounds for deduction and exclusion from the top three spots. Tens of thousands of hours of work, effort, no family, pain, stress, mental anguish - literally putting their lives on hold - only to have one second of time destroy a lifetime goal.

Thank God that’s NOT the story when it comes to our hearts and souls, and therefore, eternity. Because of what God did through Jesus we now have the promises of these truths:

1. Our sins were dealt with once and for all at the cross. No amount of sin or mistakes will undo what God has done. “It is finished” is what Jesus said.

2. We were forgiven 2000 years ago. We hadn’t been born yet but Jesus’ sacrifice was one time, for all.

3. We were forgiven through Jesus’ blood. Our work and effort have nothing to do with it.

4. We were forgiven completely for all time. It is not necessary for Jesus to go to the cross again every time we slip up.

5. We were forgiven by God’s grace. Forgiveness is his business and business is good. All we can do is activate it by placing our faith in Jesus.

6. Our sins are completely gone. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sins from us,” - Psalm 103:12.

7. God has chosen not only to forgive but to also forget our sin. God is love, and as Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 13 “Love keeps no record of wrong.” God is not a fault-finder…he is a counter of our tears but not our sins.

Missy and I hope and pray you will eventually move past a “I hope God didn’t see or hear that” way of living and move into the “Thank God for Jesus Christ” type of faith. The liberty we have in Jesus cannot be compared. Even “one little slip” will not slide us straight into oblivion out of his reach.

One final note: Our liberty is not a freedom to go on sinning or doing what we want because we have been given a blank check. It is important to remember that a check is nothing without a signature on the bottom. Let’s remember that our “Check” for forgiveness was signed in blood. Therefore, through the power of the Holy Spirit, let us do our best to not sin - knowing full well that if we do: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Steve and Missy