Romans 3:10,23
If the Early Church had a superstar, it was surely the Apostle Paul. Through the course of four missionary journeys, he founded many congregations, led countless souls to the Lord, and penned much of the New Testament. When last seen on earth, he was sacrificing his life for the gospel. Without a doubt, Paul stood as the greatest Christian leader of his time.
Yet this spiritual giant had a less-than-stellar past. Before accepting Christ, Paul persecuted the Church, sending many Christians to prison—or worse. He even referred to himself as the “chief” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). No doubt Paul had himself in mind when he stated bluntly in verse 23:
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.No matter who we are or what we’ve done, we need forgiveness. The great news is that regardless of whether our past is cause for relief or regret, God met our need for cleansing through His Son Jesus. Now He asks only that we acknowledge our need and accept His gift of love.
Why can it sometimes be a struggle for us to admit that we need forgiveness?
What will happen if we ignore or resist acknowledging that need?
We often times forget that Paul was not only one of the great Christians to ever live, but before that he was one of the greatest sinners.
ReplyDeleteI continue to reflect on condemnation because its something that I continually struggle with. Yes, I am a sinner but when I continue to reflect on those sins instead of forgiving myself as Christ is forgiving me it takes away the victory for what Christ did on the cross for me that day.
He was victorious that day and my greatest sin is diminishing what He did on the cross by holding onto unforgiveness for myself.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteWe all need to be reminded that Christ paid the ultimate price for us! He cleaned our sinned stained hearts with his precious blood. As humans we all to often forget to give glory to him for saving our lives. I struggle with my past as many people do, but when you take the time to think about that ultimate sacrifice, what more do we need? We should praise and thank God that we cared and still cares so much for us. His love is unchanging, and its the greatest gift that we can receive. It's time to embrace our future with Christ! I will never forget a sermon that I heard, Pastor Chapman spoke about our life as 'driving a car'. We all to often dwell in the rear view mirror and look at our past, but we need to keep our eyes forward on the road of righteousness. keep looking thru the windshield and focus on Christ!