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Ultimate Forgiveness
We have talked about forgiving others who have wronged us. Then, we talked about learning to forgive ourselves when we have stumbled as a follower of Christ. Today I want to talk about the ultimate forgiveness that makes the other two possible. That is being forgiven by God.
In Acts 26:1-18 the Apostle Paul introduces his old self to King Agrippa. When he was still known as Saul, Paul was full of pride and religiosity. He was a Pharisee! That meant something in Paul’s day. He was a religious authority and highly respected. Others tried to emulate him. The old Saul was feeling pretty good about himself. Pride like that can blot out the truth.
Compared to others, you might think you are not too bad either. Of course, you would admit that you are not perfect, but hey…who is? God will take into account the good things you have done that have surely wiped out your mistakes, right?
What does the Bible say about being right with God? He has made His requirements for salvation clear, and it has nothing to do with our goodness or badness. Romans 3:23 tells us we are all in the same failure boat. We have all blown it, and our holy God cannot be in the presence of sin.
The news gets worse. In Romans 6:23a we learn the punishment for our sins is spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God. We are stained by our sin. On our own, we are without hope.
Thankfully, God has a rescue plan! Jesus paid our punishment as a substitute! He was buried and 3 days later rose from the dead.
God says everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord will have all their sin forgiven AND removed. They will never again be separated from Him! Saul, (Paul), would tell you after his encounter with Jesus that everything else in life is garbage compared to belonging to Jesus. Let this be the day you surrender your all to Jesus.
If you would like to tell others about God’s amazing rescue plan, consider becoming a volunteer spiritual coach at Groundwire. Simply go to groundwire.net/coaching and apply today.
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” -Paul in Philippians 3:8
About this Plan
Have you ever experienced betrayal or rejection from people you love and trust? It can be debilitating. We question, “How can I recover?;” “Can I ever get my life back?;” “What does God expect me to do?;” “I am only human! Surely some cases don’t require forgiveness, right?” Journey with me down the road to healing as we consider 3 types of forgiveness.
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