Saturday, October 22, 2016

Unforgiven


There was a time in my life when I was desperate.

I was anxious and disheartened, and wherever I looked, including the Bible, all I saw was condemnation.

“What can I do to be saved?”

This was a deep and unending question for me. For a while I was relatively satisfied with the understanding of “surrendering my life to Jesus”.
It’s what Christians around me seemed to agree was the way to be saved, along with regular reading of God’s word and prayer.
But after meeting a certain denomination representative, I felt on the outside again.
They seemed to do more than me, more witnessing, more bible study, more devotion of their life, and besides, it didn’t actually say anywhere in the bible that surrendering your life to Jesus was the way of being saved. There must be something else we have to do?

“Baptism”.

Full immersion baptism was the only way, according to that person, and he backed it up with Bible verses.  But I had been christened as a baby, and all the people that I spent time with as Christians, didn’t feel that was necessary, but I still felt unholy, unclean, unforgiven.
I didn’t want to go to that church (I still would not go near it), I didn’t like what this fellow was doing to me and he would NOT go away, or back down on his stance.

I was feeling desperate, and was looking over my shoulder wherever I went, and also dreading the sound of the phone ringing, in case it was him.

I was backed into a corner. How could I call myself a Christian, when I felt no reliable connection to God? I wanted something firm and secure that I could take out of my wallet and say, here is my license to prove I am a Christian, but I had nothing. (Some people use "tongues" as "proof")

It was in that setting that one day I heard, loudly and clearly, that in fact there is nothing we can do to satisfy God, and his holiness. Nothing. We are, in fact, hopelessly lost as far as our own ability to gain God’s favour. Not the most honest baptism in the purest water can wash away even the smallest drip of our guilty stains. We are lost.

But God did something.
He sent his Son.
He provided a lamb.
A spotless lamb.
This lamb takes away the sins of the world...
And ANYONE who trusts in him is given the gift of forgiveness, repentance, cleansing, a clear conscience, adoption as children into the family of God, eternal life.
Yes, a washing takes place, a purification, a baptism. It all happens on the cross.
And we who believe in the cross are immersed in the power of it, even if we don't understand it, or even "feel" it (feeling guilty does not prove guilt, not feeling guilty does not prove innocence)

The gift we receive is faith.
Faith gives us the heart to see that Jesus has done it all. We do nothing except receive what we can’t live without. The precious blood of Jesus washes the guilty sinner and they are white as snow. 

What a Saviour!!!!!!

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