Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Feelings of Forgiveness


Feelings. They can blind us, lead us astray, overwhelm us, color our vision so we cannot see truth. Emotions are inescapable; they are part of us. Do you remember first falling in love? The feeling is so overwhelming you cannot think straight. No matter what the object of your love says or does, they are idolized.

When we are captured by Jesus' love, what He says deserves belief. He is an object of love worthy of worship. He speaks truth to us about who we are. He tells us we are forgiven, even when we don't feel forgiven. The sin in our life, revealed through the truth of the God's word, reminds us we are sinners. We can use that truth to beat ourselves up over and over. Satan whispers it to us to get us to a point where we want to reject Jesus' gifts to us. Sometimes others, including preachers, use it to try to shame us into obedience.

The truth is Jesus has forgiven you. You can trust what Jesus tells you.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26, ESV

"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter" Mark 3, ESV

And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Luke 7, ESV

I am writing to you, little children,because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 1 John 2, ESV

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

No Way Around Jesus


Any doctrine that says you can go around Jesus for salvation is not a theology of the cross. Salvation is only found by going through Jesus. We cannot avoid the Human-God's life; His bloody, violent death; nor His glorious resurrection, and find salvation. We must go through Him.

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10, NASB

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14, NASB

Anything different from what is revealed to us from Holy Scripture is false. False teaching damages people by teaching doubt of God's Word, then doubt upon those who teach truth. It places a person in a precarious place of unfaith. There are trust issues that cloud the vision of people that have been under false teaching.

To reject the death and resurrection of Jesus is a false teaching sown by Satan. Not all religions have Jesus, but they all contain a tinge of truth. The truth they share is usually from God's law. Do not lie, do not murder, do not steal, and more, are clear to non-Christians. What is evident to unbelievers belongs to the second table of the law, or how we treat one another. The difference between the Christian religion and non Christian religion lies in the First Table of the Law.

What is in the first table of the law is God's revelation about His character. Those are the things we do not see that we violate except as shown to us by The Holy Spirit. This would include knowing the person and work of Christ Jesus.

No, we cannot go around Jesus, the God-Man, and His perfect life; His bloody, violent death; and His glorious resurrection for our sake. To deny those things is saying you do not think you need forgiveness, because forgiveness can only be found in Jesus Christ, our only savior.