Digging Deeper – Jesus Forgives My Past
And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of the great joy which shall be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:8-11 (NASB)
JESUS FORGIVES MY PAST
THE SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN TODAY.
First, let’s take a minute to talk about the doctrine of soteriology. This is a two-dollar word that simply means the doctrine of salvation. There are many opinions on how we are saved, all thoroughly reasoned from Scripture, and we won’t get into them here. But something supernatural has to happen in the heart of God’s human creation for them to be able to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and is even able to save in the first place (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Romans 3:23 tells us that all of human creation has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In Romans 6:23 Paul tells us that because of our sinful nature we deserve to die (spiritually die). And then in Romans 5:8 Paul gives us the good news that Jesus chose to come to earth in the form of a dependent baby, grow up, live a sinless life, and die on a cross to pay the penalty for that sinful life we lived.
This is the doctrine of another two-dollar word called propitiation. It means to substitute on behalf of another. In this case, Jesus’ substitutionary death at Calvary was sufficient for the sins of the whole world, including mine… and including yours.
Don’t believe me? Do you think you have done too many bad things for God to forgive you?
God forgave King David. Murderer! Adulterer! Horrible father! But God called David a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).
God forgave the Apostle Paul. Killer and persecutor of Christians. Paul called himself the worst of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15-16). God saved Paul after he was responsible for the deaths of countless Christians throughout Jerusalem, Samaria, and the Middle East.
Still don’t believe me? Let’s look at God’s Word for proof texts, shall we?
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:12
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (read on through verse 21).
Romans 3:25
…this (Jesus’ death) was to demonstrate His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over (laid aside, disregarded, bypassed) the sins previously committed.
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
There are so many more, but I believe that is enough. Jesus paid a price that we could not pay, for a debt that He did not owe, in order to redeem the very people He created for His own possession. Rest in that truth, will you? Your Savior was born to pay your debt… and mine!
Tomorrow we will look at how Jesus secures our future!
Quite simply, Dave Griffith loves getting to know Jesus better by studying His Word daily and is passionate about teaching his siblings in Christ how to study His Word as well. He is passionately in love and like with his helpmate, Jackie; and is most fulfilled when he is hanging with his 10 kids (3 of his, 2 of Jackie’s, 3 are married, 2 more spiritually adopted) and 9 grandkids. He is a small group leader and a men’s group leader. He is a serial entrepreneur owning or having owned numerous businesses. He also enjoys naps!