“…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10, NASB)1
The legalistic church has really found herself between a rock and a hard place as the Gospel of grace is spreading like wildfire across the globe because they don’t want to disenfranchise a culture of people who have been burned by religion. They want to appear gracious and welcoming, so many pastors are beginning to preach, “Your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future!” But then in the next breath they talk about how serving God and not sinning will make you closer to God. It is true that a mind occupied with sin will callous our hearts toward God and make us feel like He is far away, but it doesn’t ever harden HIS heart towards US or change the way He sees us.
God doesn’t determine whether He is okay with me based on whether or not I am straight or gay, healthy or gluttonous, whether I abstain from every I smoke, drink, chew, or hang with those who do. God is okay with me because He took all my sin away, and I BELIEVE it! He’s okay with me BECAUSE OF JESUS! Only when people realize this will they know how MUCH God loves them! Only when Jesus is unveiled through the preaching of the Good News will people receive the free gift of righteousness. And the more grace we hear, see, and believe, the more the sap of His love will rise up in us and sin will fall off like dried leaves.
“He died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God, filling us with God’s goodness.” (Romans 4:25, Living Bible)2
(from pages 268-269 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
2The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.”
