By Dwight Thompson
Religious tradition has dimmed our view of the cross and diminished our understanding of what it means to be born again. People make a recurring ritual out of repentance.
Whatever their religion—they usually practice some sort of penance, or some sort of offering or confession, or some kind of ritual by which they continually come before God exposing again and again the same sin and the same fault.
Forgiven Once And For All
Now, what I want you to recognize is this. When you ask for forgiveness of those sins and you confess them to God, they are once and for all forgiven! I didn't say that you could not sin again.
John said,
My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not, but if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous: He is the propitiation of our sins and not of ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,
(1 John 2:1-2)
You may sin inadvertently, but as a born again Christian, you will not practice sin. For John again said in his epistle in chapter 3, verse 9,
The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him—he has been born again. (TLB)
The only way you will keep yourself in bondage is if you go back to those sins and pick them up and live in them again. You see, the only way the devil can keep you under guilt is for you to turn back to that sin.
Peter said, "Repent ye therefore, be converted that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). When you turn from your sins and forsake them, those sins are blotted out!
Daily Smile:
The Client
A lawyer had successfully handled a difficult law case for a wealthy friend. Following the happy outcome of the case, the friend and client called on the lawyer, expressed his appreciation of his work and handed him a handsome Moroccan leather wallet.
The lawyer looked
at the wallet in astonishment and handed it back with a sharp reminder
that a wallet could not possible compensate him for his services. "My
fee for that work," acidly snapped the attorney, "is five hundred
dollars."
The client opened the wallet, removed a one-thousand
dollar bill, replaced it with a five-hundred dollar bill and handed it
back to the lawyer with a smile.
Editor's Note:
We continue to dry out after Isaac... Many are still waiting for the waters to subside so they can return home and survey the damages... Many more wait patiently for power to be restored... Remember those that have gone through Isaac in the coming weeks...
Richard
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