Thoughts about forgiveness
Hebrews 7:27 says this:
He (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
1 John 1:9 says this:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
That is a really beautiful verse and an even more incredible truth. Sometimes it's difficult for us to remember that we are sinners and that we absolutely, unequivocally NEED that forgiveness. And thankfully (although that word doesn't feel like enough) our Savior gave his life for us, making the Ultimate sacrifice to cleanse us. The only provision...that we voluntarily come to him, humbling ourselves, to confess our sins and, in doing so, express our need for forgiveness.
While I do whole-heartedly believe that once we have chosen to follow Christ...once we have chosen to confess our sins to God and receive the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation that He offers...we do not need to do anything else to "update" our salvation in the future. What I'm saying is that I don't believe it's possible to "lose" one's salvation.
That said, we have a lot of work to do, collectively as The Church, to keep in mind who we are. While true, we are children of the Most High God, we continue to live on earth subjected to all of the filth and grime that is humanity. And it DOES affect us. Being prone to sin, we dabble in the dirt. Sometimes we flat out roll around in it just to get a little taste of what life used to be like. No, that doesn't mean that our names have been scratched out of the Book of Life. But rather it does mean that in those times, as we have determined to do our own thing apart from God, that our relationship with Him has suffered whether we want to acknowledge this or not. In order to restore that relationship we must return to the Father, asking forgiveness for our selfishness...for our sinfulness. Only then can our relationship be restored again.
What is difficult for us is that this process is seemingly unending. Paul felt it as he cried out about how terrible he was...the worst of all Christians...that he continuously did that which he hated the most. Can't we all identify with that (even often)? But Paul knew, as we need to learn, that every day offered him grace anew. With every sin confessed came all-encompassing grace...not grace to remove the penalty for his general sinfulness but grace to destroy the barrier that the sin had built between him and the Father. We are no different. The process is the same. We are cleansed -- we sin -- our relationship with God suffers -- we ask for forgiveness and restoration or continue to go our own way -- we are cleansed and our relationship restored if we seek that -- and we start over.
I've written about 3-4 endings for this post and erased them all. Sometimes my thoughts just stop "somewhere" and I find myself just sitting and pondering. So, that's what I'm going to do here.
He (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
1 John 1:9 says this:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
That is a really beautiful verse and an even more incredible truth. Sometimes it's difficult for us to remember that we are sinners and that we absolutely, unequivocally NEED that forgiveness. And thankfully (although that word doesn't feel like enough) our Savior gave his life for us, making the Ultimate sacrifice to cleanse us. The only provision...that we voluntarily come to him, humbling ourselves, to confess our sins and, in doing so, express our need for forgiveness.
While I do whole-heartedly believe that once we have chosen to follow Christ...once we have chosen to confess our sins to God and receive the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation that He offers...we do not need to do anything else to "update" our salvation in the future. What I'm saying is that I don't believe it's possible to "lose" one's salvation.
That said, we have a lot of work to do, collectively as The Church, to keep in mind who we are. While true, we are children of the Most High God, we continue to live on earth subjected to all of the filth and grime that is humanity. And it DOES affect us. Being prone to sin, we dabble in the dirt. Sometimes we flat out roll around in it just to get a little taste of what life used to be like. No, that doesn't mean that our names have been scratched out of the Book of Life. But rather it does mean that in those times, as we have determined to do our own thing apart from God, that our relationship with Him has suffered whether we want to acknowledge this or not. In order to restore that relationship we must return to the Father, asking forgiveness for our selfishness...for our sinfulness. Only then can our relationship be restored again.
What is difficult for us is that this process is seemingly unending. Paul felt it as he cried out about how terrible he was...the worst of all Christians...that he continuously did that which he hated the most. Can't we all identify with that (even often)? But Paul knew, as we need to learn, that every day offered him grace anew. With every sin confessed came all-encompassing grace...not grace to remove the penalty for his general sinfulness but grace to destroy the barrier that the sin had built between him and the Father. We are no different. The process is the same. We are cleansed -- we sin -- our relationship with God suffers -- we ask for forgiveness and restoration or continue to go our own way -- we are cleansed and our relationship restored if we seek that -- and we start over.
I've written about 3-4 endings for this post and erased them all. Sometimes my thoughts just stop "somewhere" and I find myself just sitting and pondering. So, that's what I'm going to do here.
Thank you Father for your forgiveness, for your grace and mercy,
and for the love that you have for me.
and for the love that you have for me.
posted by Michael Shattuck at
1:13 AM
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