Posted on 01/12/2023 8:59:39 AM PST by metmom
"In [Christ] we have redemption through His blood" (Eph. 1:7, emphasis added).
Redeeming grace is free to us, but its cost to God is inestimable.
Sin is not a serious issue to most people. Our culture flaunts and peddles it in countless forms. Even Christians who would never think of committing certain sins will often allow themselves to be entertained by them through television, movies, music, and other media.
We sometimes flirt with sin but God hates it. The price He paid to redeem us from it speaks of the seriousness with which He views it. After all, we "were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
In Scripture the shedding of blood refers to violent physical death—whether of a sacrificial animal or of Christ Himself. Sin is so serious that without bloodshed, there is no forgiveness of sin in God's sight (Heb. 9:22).
The sacrificial animals in the Old Testament pictured Christ's sacrifice on the cross. That's why John the Baptist called Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The Old Testament sacrifices were necessary but incomplete. Christ's sacrifice was perfect, complete, and once for all (Heb. 10:10). No further sacrifices are needed other than the "sacrifice of praise to God" for what He has done (Heb. 13:15) and our very lives in service to Him as "a living and holy sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1).
By His sacrifice Christ demonstrated not only God's hatred for sin, but also His great love for sinners. You could never redeem yourself, but Christ willingly paid the price with His own precious blood. He "gave Himself up for [you], an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Eph. 5:2). His sacrifice was acceptable to the Father, so your redemption was paid in full. What magnanimous love and incredible grace!
Suggestions for Prayer
Worship God for His wonderful plan of salvation. Worship Christ for the enormous sacrifice He made on your behalf. Worship the Holy Spirit for applying Christ's sacrifice to your life and drawing you to Christ in saving faith. Ask God to help you guard your heart from flirting with sin. For Further Study
Read 2 Samuel 11.
What circumstances led to David's sin with Bathsheba?
How did David attempt to cover his sin?
How did David finally deal with his sin (see Ps. 51)?
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word Ping
This is my problem with faith vs works.
Since grace is free to all, we should therefore be able to act as we please without any consequences. From my estimation you don’t even had to apply for grace, you are automatically granted it.
Thus, despite what vile and evil things I do, this behavior will not cause any deleterious consequences as long as there is grace.
Your thoughts?
Nobody ever said that there were no consequences to sin for the saved. God works in the life of the believer from the moment of salvation to conform him into the image of Christ. He is involved in the believers life. He doesn’t abandon us to our own devices. And that includes discipling those who are His own.
Salvation is not a get out of jail card, now run along and do as you please, without repercussions.
The argument that once one is saved, they can go out and spit in God’s face and sin with impunity is thrown up by non-believers as an argument and justification for a works based salvation. Scripture does not teach that nor have I met any genuine believers who promote it. Why would we want to treat the gift of God with such contempt?
Believers are grateful for their salvation and want to live in a manner worthy of the name of Christ. They want to live holy lives, not to earn salvation, but to honor and please the God who gave so much to save us.
If you intentionally do vile and evil things then that is what your heart desires. A heart filled with God’s Holy Spirit by His Grace does not desire to do vile and evil things. That’s why this apparent paradox breaks down.
“So if I’m saved I ‘get to’ keep on sinning?”
If you’re saved then you will despise sin as God does and you will seek constantly to eliminate it from your life. You will examine yourself regularly, you will recognize the vestiges of your old sin-loving self, you will confess these things to God, and pray for His help in mortifying them.
No one who is saved thinks, “Woo hoo! I’ve got a ‘Get Out of Hell Free Card!’ Let’s party!”
Romans 6:15-18
“Your thoughts?”
If you’ve been born again, you will NOT excuse sin in your life. The Holy Spirit will not let you.
If you DO, you are not born again. You are not “in Christ” and therefor have not received any forgiveness.
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
The Rapture of the Church is getting closer by the day. There aren’t any events that must precede it, and the Church’s days on Earth are clearly numbered. Whether we’re taken up this year or not it’s certainly not too soon to prepare.
Our preparation is Spiritual, not physical, and that means getting ourselves in a proper spiritual condition to endure the time that’s left to us. We need to be clear on what we believe and why so we can speak persuasively about it when called upon to do so. We need to be strong in our faith, both to make our final appeals to those around us who aren’t with us yet, and to remain steadfast in the face of ever more serious attempts, even (especially) by those within the church, to erode the foundations of our beliefs.
With that in mind, we’ll begin a study of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the Gospel according to Paul. Our focus will be on re-visiting the basics of our faith. Think of this as the spiritual equivalent of an athlete going into training to prepare for a big event.
Paul’s Letter To the Romans By Jack Kelley Wednesday July 8th, 2020 About 11 Minutes to Read
Excerpt.
Romans: The Gospel According To Paul … Part 1 of 12
Thanks for your input.
Romans 7 & 8 also address this. If we have the Spirit of Christ, we set our minds on the things of the Spirit, not the things of the flesh.
"We need to be clear on what we believe and why so we can speak persuasively about it when called upon to do so."
Good point. Might I also add that persuasion in our behavior and deeds points to a saving belief in Jesus Christ as well. Being prepared to give to others, be it big or small, says volumes about Christ. Time is growing short. Soon He will snatch His church away.
I’m Catholic & worked with a guy who was married & Catholic and once a year, his old girlfriend from Arizona would come back home and they would hook up a bunch of times while she was back. I remember him saying something to the effect that he would just go to confession & remember thinking, that’s not how this works.
The traditional Act of Contrition ended with:
I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen. (my emphasis).
Thank you, Lord Jesus. I can’t even imagine what horrors you voluntarily went through to save us.
I was raised with the mindset that Jesus was the reluctant saviour. That God was always watching in condemnation and disapproval, ready at any minute for an excuse to send me to hell.
What a perverted mindset when Jesus CHOSE to go to the cross to redeem us because He knew that we could do nothing ourselves to do it.
Then when I had turned my back on religion and Him, HE still worked in my life to arrange circumstances to bring me to a point of salvation, then He called me, convicted me of my sin, and showed me my need for Him that He then provided as a free gift.
God WANTS to save people and He went to the greatest extreme to do it and show us how much He wanted it.
I see it now that God isn’t looking for an excuse to damn us watching our every move to wait for us to slip up and “Gotcha”, but is looking for an excuse to save people, taking the weakest faith and smallest steps towards him into account.
And even to this day, I still deal with the thought always lurking in the back of my mind that He’s up there waiting for me to slip up.
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