An Awesome Savior

Post date: Oct 30, 2017 4:49:26 PM

I am confused! Why do people say that they believe the truths of the bible but are unable to embrace the forgiveness of their sins provided therein? They walk day by day tormented by what has occurred in the past not realizing that they can be set free. It’s like a cloud blinding ones vision to the blue sky above, if the cloud is removed then the sun comes shining through. Similarly, God has offered us forgiveness and freedom through His Son Jesus Christ but if one can’t see beyond their own failures their bondage remains. Your sins aren’t greater than God’s ability to forgive. Hebrews 8:12 states, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.”   

There are numerous examples of persons who have sinned throughout the Holy Bible and still have received forgiveness. There was King David in the book of 2 Samuel 11 who committed both murder and adultery, Moses in Exodus 2 who committed murder and Saul in the book of Acts 8 who was reported to have endorsed the stoning death of Stephen. Each of the persons committed far worse acts then any of us but were still forgiven and then used of God. How absurd! Do we think that our transgression is greater than Gods’ capacity to forgive?       

Isaiah 57:15 TLB  “The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts.”

I was a young newlywed who had never gone to church or read the bible. I always wanted to believe that God existed but like many of us I never knew it for sure so it was for this reason that I tried to maintain a good set of morals.  As I grew I eventually broke my own self-proclaimed code of conduct to which I found myself wallowing in shame and longing for forgiveness and acceptance from a God that I had only hoped existed.

 John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 Early one February day I was at home recovering from a severe fall at work where I was confined to the couch. There was very little reading material within my reach except for an inspirational book called “The late Great Planet Earth” Holy Bible authored by Hal Lindsay or the Holy Bible. I had always been reluctant to read the bible so I read the inspirational book instead. It spoke of the need for a Savior which was a concept that I had been avoiding  because I anticipated God disapproving of my less than stellar conduct.  When I finally reached for the bible there was no negative reaction toward me from God but instead there was a sense of peace that came over me as if He had been waiting for me to humble myself. As I read the account of creation my heart flooded with hope so before I knew it I found myself praying, “If there is a God prove it to me! If I know that you do exist then I will serve you forever.”

 Romans 10: 9-10  “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.”

 The next several weeks brought recovery so I began to explore some new employment opportunities. During a phone conversation with a potential employer he asked me this unexpected question; “Are you a Christian?” It seemed like an eternity had passed before I could answer as I was desperately trying to reconcile my non church attendance and poor conduct with the vow that I had made to God a few weeks earlier. Finally, my will was broken, I blurted out; “Yes I am!”  This one confession changed my life forever! It was the first time in my life that I had proclaimed, firstly, to myself and then to anyone else that I was a Christian. It seems strange to me now that I embraced God’s acceptance of me before I had understood the truth of Christ’s eternal sacrifice. It was just a few weeks later that someone at church said to me “Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior”. I said; “Does it say to do this in the Bible.” It has been almost 40 years since I made that commitment.