Washed by Jesus

This week's message on The Electric Gospel comes from Sarah Allerding, a student in the chaplaincy certification program.  

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Sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers ... That is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God  (1 Corinthians 6:10,11).

We all have sinned many times in our lives. Some of our sins may stick in our minds more than others. They may even come back to haunt us. Maybe we start to think that the sin from our past was too much for God possibly to forgive.  Is that the case? Did Jesus die only for some sins? Are there sins too great for God to forgive?

Think about the men who nailed Jesus to the cross. They were killing the Son of God. What did Jesus say? Did he say, “Father this sin is too great to be forgiven; I want these men to spend eternity in hell for what they are doing”?  No. That is what they deserved but instead, Jesus said, “ Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).  Imagine that! The Son of God was willing to forgive the men who crucified him. In fact, at that very moment he was dying for their sin and the sins of the whole world. He was dying for you and me.

We may have done some things we are really ashamed of. Jesus died for those sins too. There is no sin that Jesus did not die for. We were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. That is who we were. Our past sins no longer define who we are. We are forgiven children of God. 

Thank God he does not give us what we deserve!

Prayer:  

Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross to take away our sins. When the sins from our past come back to haunt us, please help us remember that we were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. In your name we pray, Amen.