GOD’S GRACE AND FORGIVENESS SERIES (Final part 11 of 11)

GRACE-FORGIVENESS (final – part 11 of the 11-day series):

If we think of the Bible in terms of a hymnal in church, when we
open it to the middle, we would find a psalm on the forgiveness of
God. It would serve as a reminder of God’s goodness and encourage
us to sing together with great joy.

When we come to church, we are in the company of the forgiven! We have
something now that the world doesn’t know anything about. We’re sinners,
but we’re sinners saved by grace. We’re sinners who have embraced and
accepted the amazing forgiveness (and ‘forgetting’) of God. Knowing that
we have been forgiven by our Creator and Heavenly Father, should cause
us to be ridiculously happy, joyful, and blessed!
    “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven”

For David (and for us), God’s forgiveness transforms the burden of
unforgiven sin into songs of praise! We might already be a Christian
who has been forgiven of our sins because we have accepted Christ as
our Savior. Or, we may not be a Christian because we have not accepted
Him as our Savior, and we’re still trying to figure out,
    “Why can’t I get rid of this sense of guilt that I’m carrying around”?
In both cases, we need to understand that the forgiveness of God will
speak to us in a couple of ways.

Since God has forgiven us, we must accept his forgiveness.
That’s all we can do. Some may say,
    “I know God has forgiven me, and my wife has
      forgiven me, or my husband has forgiven me,
      but I cannot forgive myself”

We need to remember, it is one thing to believe that God forgives us,
but we have to receive and embrace His forgiveness as well. Not only
that, but if we are Christians, we need to forgive others because God
has forgiven us. Until we receive God’s forgiveness, we will continue
being shackled to guilt and an uneasiness that only God can resolve
for us.

As a reminder of our responsibility to forgive others, look at these verses.
    Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.
    (Ephesians 4:32a)
    Question:
    How?
        ..just as in Christ God forgave you
        (Ephesians 4:32b)

    Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
    yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
    patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of
    you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave
    you.
    (Colossians 3:12-13)

God has blessed us enormously with His forgiveness for our sins.
He has deposited that forgiveness in our hearts, and His message
to us is:
    “Out of the forgiveness which I have given you, I want
      you to reach in and take some of that forgiveness, and
      use it to forgive others”

There’s nothing we can do to make things right when something
is wrong, unless we go to someone and forgive. We might say,
    “Well, I’m not the one who initiated the problem”
That doesn’t make any difference, we should do it anyway. The Bible
says if we’re the one who has been wronged by someone, we need to go
and get it right. And, if we’re the one who has wronged someone else,
we need to go and get it right. It’s always our turn.

Forgiveness is Godly, righteous, and creates unique blessings. When God
forgives us, and we accept it, we become free of our sin. When we forgive
those who have offended us, we become free of our bitterness, and we can
enjoy a new fullness in our lives.

The Christian church is a community of the forgiven. All of us have
been forgiven by God, all of us have been forgiven by others, and if
we’re honest, all of us have either forgiven, or need to forgive someone.

That’s the uniqueness of who we are as the body of Christ. We know
how blessed we are because we have been forgiven by God, and it gives
us the capability to forgive others, even when they do things that hurt
us deeply.

Christ offers us the free gift of His forgiveness, and He asks us to reach
out and receive it. If we will do that, we can become a greater part of the
‘community of the forgiven’, and we can experience a new freedom from
the burden of guilt that keeps us restrained from the grace of God and His
blessings.
Take a few moments and reflect on what we have covered about God’s
grace and forgiveness. Each section is fairly brief, so re-read them to
refresh your memory and perhaps understand something you might
have missed the first time.

Then, be honest and transparent with God (and with yourself) 
about the status of your sins and your relationship with Him.
    – Have you confessed ALL your sins
      and asked the Lord for His and forgiveness?
    – Have you thanked Him for His grace toward you
      as He continues to transform (sanctify) you to become
      more righteous and more of a reflection of His Son, Jesus?

The decisions we make while living will determine where we will
spend eternity. It is not a game of trying to be more good than bad,
it is a serious commitment to live the kind of life God expects of those
who belong to Him.
    Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed
    with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”
    and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must
    turn away from wickedness.”
    (2 Timothy 2:19)

God’s grace gives us the ability to accomplish
some things we cannot do in our own strength:
    For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation
    to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and
    worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
    godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed
    hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
    Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all
    wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his
    very own, eager to do what is good.
    (Titus 2:11-14)

As we see in Titus 2,
when are the recipients of God’s grace, we can,
    – Say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions.
    – Live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

In Titus 3, is another reminder
of how our lives are changed as a result of God’s grace:
    At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and
    enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in
    malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when
    the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,
    not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his
    mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal
    by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through
    Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace,
    we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a
    trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that
    those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves
    to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for
    everyone.
    (Titus 3:3-8)

Before we were recipients of God’s grace, we were enslaved to
the attractions, temptations and habits of ‘worldly’ people. But
God transformed us into new people, who are now aligned with
His desires, which gives us a new hope for our future.

We need to thank the Lord for how He continues to change us
from unrighteousness to righteousness as part of His ongoing
sanctification process to transform us, so we will become more
of a likeness of His Son, Jesus.

I hope you have enjoyed making this 11-day commitment
to read these messages from the Lord. I have read them
several times and they continue to speak to me.

As a reminder, if you missed any days, you can find
them by typing God’s Grace And Forgiveness Series
in the Search field on my Blog: utvolwoody.com

Feel free to leave any comments – they encourage me
to continue doing what God called me to do in 2013.

Thanks, and God bless you as you grow closer to our Savior.

BLOG: utvolwoody.com