|  | | April 12 | | | | | But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. | | | | Acts 13:37-39 | | | | You are justified from all things. The word ‘all’ in Greek means ‘all ’!
Last Sunday, before I baptized a young man, I told him, ‘By your being here, you’re testifying to everyone that you’re serious about Jesus Christ. And because of that, any compromise that you're involved in, any sin or stuff that’s going on in your life which is not right —’ At this point, the guy started weeping, no doubt thinking that the sin in his life presently would disqualify him from salvation eternally. I said, ‘You’re here because you’re serious about the Lord and I want you to know any sin you’re now committing is forgiven.’
With a look of amazement on his face, he looked up at me and said, ‘Really? You mean I’m forgiven of the sin I’m presently involved in?’
And great was my joy when I could answer, ‘Yes!’
We don’t get it. We know our old sins are forgiven, but we think, ‘Now I’ve got to toe the line and make sure I don’t mess up from here on out.’
That’s not salvation. That’s not justification. True salvation, true justification means that every sin you’ve ever committed, are presently committing, or ever will commit in the future is forgiven and forgotten because where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20) The full price has been paid. And all that remains is for us to believe it. |
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