Tuesday, December 8, 2015

What Can Wash Away My Sins - Nothing But ...

My Utmost For His Highest
 
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14
 
“We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30) […] No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless […] We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). […] “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.[…]  The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.” CHAMBERS
 
Jesus’s blood, his sacrifice on the cross, covers us .. forever.  Oh, but you say, we are going to have new bodies one day .. but it is the Cross that makes that possible.  We are never going to be independent .. there will never be anything eternal that we can claim as ours alone … it is by grace, because of the love of God.  The word “propitiation” actually is a reference to the Mercy Seat that sat on the top of the Ark of the Covenant (Yes the Indiana Jones – Ark) .  It was on the Mercy Seat that the blood offering was poured to atone for the sins of Israel.  That satisfied God’s wrath for their sins.  Conviction leads us to confession which leads us to realization … realization that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6) The only way to the Father is Jesus. Understanding the significance of that … having that be our motivation for living the new life … has spiritual roots.  It is not a truth our flesh will be drawn to.  It is a truth that our hearts must yield to.  It’s a life-long struggle … you may lose a battle now and again .. but good news .. Jesus has won the war.  ELGIN
 
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
 
Charley Elgin

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