Once for All

Through  the years, I’ve meet folks who have made some bad choices and then struggled with believing that God would forgive them.

I think this comes from a misunderstanding of God’s holiness and what Jesus’ blood accomplished for us.

First, every time we sin or choose against God’s will, we make a bad choice.

The difference in sins is found in their consequences.

Each sin is evidence of the corrupted human nature of the unbeliever or the battle between the flesh and the Spirit in the believer.

Only a 100% holy person can stand in God’s presence.

This is why Jesus was the only option to die in our place.

His shed blood was accepted by God to pay the penalty for all of the sins of all of mankind.

It’s what we call Unlimited Atonement.

Now, there are some folks who take the position of Limited Atonement: that Jesus’ blood only paid for the sins of believers.

Personally, I think that His blood paid for all of sin because of what Paul wrote in Romans 6:10, “For the death that He died, He died to sin; once for all…”

Jesus does not die each time a person sins.

No, He died once for all sin.

Every sin ever committed is paid for in full.

Now, this does not mean that every person is automatically saved and bound for heaven.

No, it’s still each person’s responsibility to respond to the gospel message either in faith or in unbelief.

When a person responds in faith, they enter into the very life of Jesus and His atoning blood washes them of all unrighteousness even the sins they have yet to commit.

Beloved, it’s all paid for in full!

If it wasn’t, then Jesus would have been crucified over and over again.

His grace and mercy cover all of our sins and transgressions.

In the same chapter, Paul challenges us not to fall for what some call ‘cheap grace’ or the idea that since we are under grace, we can sin up a storm, after all, it’s all forgiven.

May it never be!

How can we who have died to sin, still go looking to it for life?

The more we grow in grace, the less we will choose the sins of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Why?  Because life in Jesus is so much better than anything Satan can offer us instead.

Also, once we realize that we are new creations in Christ Jesus — saints — sinning really bothers us, and we are quicker to repent and seek to root out the lies that trip us up and replace them with God’s truth.

Beloved, don’t let the enemy beat you up for your failures.

All of your sins are paid for in full.

Rest and receive His love everyday.

Put on the armor of God and defer all battles to Jesus — He wins every time!

Blessings!

Robyn

The True You

Have you ever heard anyone say, “You just have to be true to yourself?”

What on earth does that mean?

Frankly, most of the time it’s an excuse to indulge their selfish flesh.

However, the reality is that our choices flow from our perception of self.

For example, if I see myself as a person with a bad temper, then I will be perfectly comfortable with biting someone’s head off.

On the other hand, if I see myself as a nice person but react to someone with angry words, it will bother me, and I will quickly apologize.

Our perception of self forms in large measure based on the verbal and physical feedback we get from our parents, siblings, friends, and teachers.

Unfortunately, none of those folks are the Source of Truth.

The key to mental health is perceiving ourselves as God perceives us.

Author Brennan Manning wrote:

“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.  This is the true self.  Every other identity is illusion.”

In Christ, you are loved, accepted, made righteous and holy, safe and secure, His friend, complete, lacking nothing, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

The very life and essence of Jesus flows in you and through you thanks to His gift of the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, we need to put off our old self perceptions and  put on God’s perception of us.

This is where truth is regardless of what we feel.

We have been taken out of Adam, so people no longer define us.

We have been born again into God’s family; we are children of the King of Kings; we are princes and princesses.

God sees us as we really are: complete in Him, perfect, holy, Christ-like brothers and sister of Jesus.

Beloved, this is the true you, so be true to yourself and live out of your new identity in Jesus.

Blessings!

Robyn