Not Guilty by Mandisa
Song & video at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7fokl9riJ0
I stand accused
There’s a list a mile long of all my sins
Of everything that I’ve done wrong
I’m so ashamed
There’s nowhere left for me to hide
This is the day I must answer for my life
My fate is in the judge’s hands
But then he turns to me and says
I know you I love youI gave My life to save you
Love paid the price for mercy
My verdict: Not Guilty!
How can it be?
I can’t begin to comprehend
What kind of grace would take the place for all my sin?
I stand in awe now that I’ve been set free
And the tears well up
As I look at that cross
‘Cause it should’ve been me
My fate was in the nail scarred hands
He stretched them out for me and said
I know you I love you
I gave My life to save you
Love paid the price for mercy
My verdict: Not Guilty!
I’m falling on my knees to thank You
With everything I am I’ll praise You
So grateful for the words I heard You say
I know you. I love you. I gave My life
I know you, I love you
I gave My life to save you
Love paid the price for mercy
My verdict: Not guilty Not guilty Not guilty
Week before last the lesson was It’s No Mistake, It’s the “S” Word (Sin) and then last week we discussed the Forgotten Word (Repentance). This week let’s look at being declared “Not Guilty”.
God’s Word says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23). All of us sin and we sin on a daily basis. Although we do sin, God still loves us and when we repent of our sins, he forgives us of our sins. “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:24).
I like how The Message translates this verse: “He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”
This means that we are declared “not guilty” for our sins. That does not mean that we have a license to continue sinning. Human-beings will make wrong choices leading to sin, but God does not want us to live apart from him, so that is why Jesus shed his blood for us. God’s Word says, “For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). God did not want us to spend eternity separated from him so he gave us the gift of eternal life in his Son. The gift is ready for us to accept and it is free because Jesus already paid the price.
He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. (Romans 8:3b-4)
Paul writes in his letter to the Romans “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” (Romans 8:1, 2).
God has given us the gift of freedom. He has declared us “not guilty”. We are not living under the Law, but we are living under the grace of God through the shed blood of Jesus and under the power of the Holy Spirit. No one could keep the all the Law therefore no one could be saved By the Law.
Paul goes on to say, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5).
In other words, there are people today who are living the ways of the world. These people believe they are in control of their lives and they are entitled to anything they want. They are focused on the material possessions of this earthly life. They are not concerned about their sinful nature because they are living for themselves. These people will do whatever it takes to reach whatever worldly goal they have in mind. The sins of greed, anger, hatred, jealously, etc, are not in their vocabulary. They live for today.
We cannot have our cake and eat it too. Listen to the words of Jesus to the church at Laodicea: ““I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Revelation 3:15-16).We cannot take a stand for Jesus in one breath and then change our minds the next.
We cannot take the middle of the road. We cannot bounce back and forth between good and bad. We cannot live worldly and project a Christian image. There is no middle-of-the-road when it comes to Jesus. Either we have the Spirit of Christ in us or we do not.
But the Good News is that when we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our own personal Lord and Savior, our sins are forgiven and we are guaranteed that we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. We are living under the grace of the One who took our place on Calvary. “God did not sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).
He went to the Cross for us. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, his words were: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
When one the thieves said to him, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 NKJV
He has stamped us: “Not Guilty!”
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org. 0
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Forgotten Word
The Forgotten Word
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…1) Pride or ArroganceMost people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! Eve – the serpent made me do it. Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened HeartsSometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of SinSometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
4) Not yet Many people don’t repent because they just keep putting it “on the back burner”. Maybe tomorrow! This is one area of life which we should not put off until tomorrow! Many people may be convicted of their sins and they assure you that one day they plan on changing. One day they plan on making it right, but they continue to say “Not yet”. So why is it necessary to repent of our sins?Repentance is so important that it is a major theme throughout the Bible. John the Baptist preached a message calling the people to repentance. Jesus began His ministry preaching “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Matthew 4:17) And He made clear to his disciples that “repentance and the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name beginning is Jerusalem”. (Luke 24:47 NIV)” When Jesus addressed the seven churches is the book of Revelation eight times he challenged them to “repent”. The most important thing that we can learn is that there is an absolute necessity for repentance. And repentance is not just a one-time event that we do, but it is something we do on a regular basis. There is a need for repentance because we all have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. There is a need for repentance because there is an alternative to repentance that we want no part of.Jesus was asked by some Jews if some people who were murdered by Pilate and some who died when a tower fell on them, were “worse sinners than others’, He answered “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” And then said again, “No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”” (See Luke 13:1-5) Peter told the people at Pentecost “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God......” (Acts 2:38) Sounds like repentance may be kinda’ important!We are sinners in need of forgiveness, and that forgiveness can only be obtained through our willingness to come before God and repent of our sins. It is important for us to realize that repentance is an individual thing that is necessary for everyone. We could have the tendency to think that “repentance isn’t for me” or “my sin is not as bad as their sin”, but regardless as to what we perceive the level of our sin, repentance is necessary for every individual. More On The Meaning of Repentance Repentance is not…1. Just Being Sorry or Feeling GuiltyThis situation with Judas is interesting. Matthew wrote, “When Judas, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.” Judas tried to give back the money he was paid for betraying Jesus and even said, “I have sinned,” (Matthew 27:3-4) Now, many times this type of feeling of remorse can lead to true repentance, but for Judas it remained just a feeling of guilt and sorrow over wrongdoings. If Judas had been truly repentant he would have gone back to Jesus and would have asked forgiveness rather than committing suicide. He was sorry, but not sincerely repentant. Sorrow can be good but it is not the same as repentance.
There are people filled with guilt and sorrow, but then when they learn that some sort of change is expected in response, they don’t like it too much. Of course they may have been sincere in their sorrow, but there was absolutely no repentance. Often times they are not repentant and sorry that they did what they did, but they are sorry that they got caught. Now sometimes it does take our sin being exposed before we come to conviction over sin, but that doesn’t equal repentance. 2. Done to Escape Consequences Sometimes we show remorse and offer change because we feel we have no other choice. Repentance is a choice we make, but we do it because we want to get right with God not because we don’t want to be in trouble or face consequences. Many times people say they are repentant over their sin because they hope that simply saying they are sorry will remove the earthly consequences for their sin, but that is not real repentance.3. Admitting You Are WrongFrom time to time all of us have been known to be wrong on something. Often times that wrongdoing requires repentance. But admitting wrong, though noble, is not the same as repenting of the wrong. Just because you admit it does not mean any repentance took place. A “good old boy” (or girl) may say, “I said I was wrong, what more do you want?” Well…the answer is we want a sincere repentance. B. Repentance is…As mentioned earlier in the lesson, is a change of the mind, a change of the heart, and a change of the will that leads to a change in action. 1. A Change of the MindRepentance begins with a change of your mind or how you think. Along with repentance, your mind should change about God, who He is and what place He will have in your life. It should change how you view other people. It should change how we regard sin. Repentance should bring about a change to where you do not want to live a lifestyle of sin because you see the consequences of sin and no longer want to displease God. 2. A Change of the Will or what you “want” to doRepentance should also involve a change of the will. What you want to do should change with real repentance. No longer do you want to please your sinful desires, but instead you want to submit to God’s will.
3. A Change of the ActionsThe most important aspect of repentance for us to grasp is that true repentance involves a life change or a change of lifestyle. Remember the story of the “prodigal son” from last week’s lesson? Throughout the Scriptures we read of people’s sins and mistakes, but along with that we also see many instances of a true and sincere repentance. There is a VERY positive effect of sincere repentance of sin. There is joy in knowing our sins have been forgiven. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!”(Psalm 32:1) “... if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. (1 John 1:9) And I really like this scripture, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12). And this is really big since this was written by David who had broken just about all of God’s commandments. Just a note here to mention that David still had to suffer some serious earthly consequences of his sins!
We need to understand that we, on our own, are not capable of the kind of repentance discussed in this lesson. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us how to achieve this! But when we allow the Spirit to lead us to repentance, He will begin to produce in us a new understanding of the glory of Christ. And he'll make it known to everyone around us!
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org. Also, Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…1) Pride or ArroganceMost people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! Eve – the serpent made me do it. Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened HeartsSometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of SinSometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
4) Not yet Many people don’t repent because they just keep putting it “on the back burner”. Maybe tomorrow! This is one area of life which we should not put off until tomorrow! Many people may be convicted of their sins and they assure you that one day they plan on changing. One day they plan on making it right, but they continue to say “Not yet”. So why is it necessary to repent of our sins?Repentance is so important that it is a major theme throughout the Bible. John the Baptist preached a message calling the people to repentance. Jesus began His ministry preaching “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Matthew 4:17) And He made clear to his disciples that “repentance and the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name beginning is Jerusalem”. (Luke 24:47 NIV)” When Jesus addressed the seven churches is the book of Revelation eight times he challenged them to “repent”. The most important thing that we can learn is that there is an absolute necessity for repentance. And repentance is not just a one-time event that we do, but it is something we do on a regular basis. There is a need for repentance because we all have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. There is a need for repentance because there is an alternative to repentance that we want no part of.Jesus was asked by some Jews if some people who were murdered by Pilate and some who died when a tower fell on them, were “worse sinners than others’, He answered “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” And then said again, “No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”” (See Luke 13:1-5) Peter told the people at Pentecost “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God......” (Acts 2:38) Sounds like repentance may be kinda’ important!We are sinners in need of forgiveness, and that forgiveness can only be obtained through our willingness to come before God and repent of our sins. It is important for us to realize that repentance is an individual thing that is necessary for everyone. We could have the tendency to think that “repentance isn’t for me” or “my sin is not as bad as their sin”, but regardless as to what we perceive the level of our sin, repentance is necessary for every individual. More On The Meaning of Repentance Repentance is not…1. Just Being Sorry or Feeling GuiltyThis situation with Judas is interesting. Matthew wrote, “When Judas, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.” Judas tried to give back the money he was paid for betraying Jesus and even said, “I have sinned,” (Matthew 27:3-4) Now, many times this type of feeling of remorse can lead to true repentance, but for Judas it remained just a feeling of guilt and sorrow over wrongdoings. If Judas had been truly repentant he would have gone back to Jesus and would have asked forgiveness rather than committing suicide. He was sorry, but not sincerely repentant. Sorrow can be good but it is not the same as repentance.
There are people filled with guilt and sorrow, but then when they learn that some sort of change is expected in response, they don’t like it too much. Of course they may have been sincere in their sorrow, but there was absolutely no repentance. Often times they are not repentant and sorry that they did what they did, but they are sorry that they got caught. Now sometimes it does take our sin being exposed before we come to conviction over sin, but that doesn’t equal repentance. 2. Done to Escape Consequences Sometimes we show remorse and offer change because we feel we have no other choice. Repentance is a choice we make, but we do it because we want to get right with God not because we don’t want to be in trouble or face consequences. Many times people say they are repentant over their sin because they hope that simply saying they are sorry will remove the earthly consequences for their sin, but that is not real repentance.3. Admitting You Are WrongFrom time to time all of us have been known to be wrong on something. Often times that wrongdoing requires repentance. But admitting wrong, though noble, is not the same as repenting of the wrong. Just because you admit it does not mean any repentance took place. A “good old boy” (or girl) may say, “I said I was wrong, what more do you want?” Well…the answer is we want a sincere repentance. B. Repentance is…As mentioned earlier in the lesson, is a change of the mind, a change of the heart, and a change of the will that leads to a change in action. 1. A Change of the MindRepentance begins with a change of your mind or how you think. Along with repentance, your mind should change about God, who He is and what place He will have in your life. It should change how you view other people. It should change how we regard sin. Repentance should bring about a change to where you do not want to live a lifestyle of sin because you see the consequences of sin and no longer want to displease God. 2. A Change of the Will or what you “want” to doRepentance should also involve a change of the will. What you want to do should change with real repentance. No longer do you want to please your sinful desires, but instead you want to submit to God’s will.
3. A Change of the ActionsThe most important aspect of repentance for us to grasp is that true repentance involves a life change or a change of lifestyle. Remember the story of the “prodigal son” from last week’s lesson? Throughout the Scriptures we read of people’s sins and mistakes, but along with that we also see many instances of a true and sincere repentance. There is a VERY positive effect of sincere repentance of sin. There is joy in knowing our sins have been forgiven. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!”(Psalm 32:1) “... if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. (1 John 1:9) And I really like this scripture, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12). And this is really big since this was written by David who had broken just about all of God’s commandments. Just a note here to mention that David still had to suffer some serious earthly consequences of his sins!
We need to understand that we, on our own, are not capable of the kind of repentance discussed in this lesson. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us how to achieve this! But when we allow the Spirit to lead us to repentance, He will begin to produce in us a new understanding of the glory of Christ. And he'll make it known to everyone around us!
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org. Also, Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
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