I did some studying to find Scripture that specifically talks about sin, its effects, God's promise to us, and our opportunity to be freed from the shame of sin even while we still see the results lingering. I know that my life has been transformed since God showed me what being freed from sin is all about. As I talk to more people in the Navy, I see a lot of people who have turned from God to lives of habitual sin and feel they are unable to ever be loved and wanted by God again. The following verses are God's response to that belief and I know they can liberate even the worst of sinners from feeling unworthy of God's love.
Psalm 103 is fantastic. Check out the whole thing. Here are verses 8-13:
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
James 4:1-10
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? There fore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud , but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James gives a precise reason for why the world is the way it is. Sin in our lives creates quarrels and fights and anguish and shame. When I read that, I realized just how much of a friend I had been calling the world for so long. The Bible says that we are strangers on this earth. It says that it is not our home but our citizenship is in Heaven and we are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to return bringing with him our permanent home. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. These two happen simultaneously. As we focus on God, especially Christ, satan’s strongholds weaken and are destroyed.
2 Timothy 2:20,21
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
That we could be useful to the Master, the Sovereign God of the Universe?! This is the cry of my heart. The Bible gives us not only the way to do so, but the promise that it will happen when we submit fully to Jesus Christ!
Isaiah 6:1-7
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”
Isaiah saw the Lord and immediately he felt completely unworthy. God was well within his righteousness to agree with Isaiah and condemn him. Instead, God cleansed Isaiah from his sin, took his guilt away, and made him righteous. Even though this is in the Old Testament, Isaiah’s righteousness was still because of his faith in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament bear witness about him.
Luke 15 contains the account of the prodigal son. What a story of a father's unfailing love for his son even after the son squandered his entire inheritance. In the same way, God is waiting for those who have strayed to come home to His arms and experience His grace and forgiveness.
I hope from these Scripture you’ve seen the theme of God restoring His people despite their sin and guilt. I also wanted to share verses that have spoken to me and given me strength to move away from a life that was not pleasing to God. It is more than possible for everyone to do the same; it is a guarantee. The catch is that we have to believe it by faith and trust that God will do what He says He will. It’s only by His grace that we are even able to realize this fact and have faith to begin with. He’s a God of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy and He is my everything.
I wanted to end with a few verses from Romans. Paul wrote Romans basically as his doctrine of faith. It includes everything that Paul had revealed to him by God regarding our salvation, Jesus Christ, our future, Israel, and how we should live in the Spirit of God. These verses are the shortened version of the Gospel message that Christ spoke while on earth and God still speaks today through the Holy Scriptures and the Body of Christ, His church.
Romans 3:23,24
The problem of man:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
We all stand condemned before a righteous God. It is a free gift of God that we might be made righteous before Him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
Romans 6:23
The price of sin:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 5:8
The payment for sin:
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 10:9
The promise of God:
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In chapter 8 Paul starts off by saying that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The grace of God! At the end of chapter 8, Paul writes that he is convinced that nothing can or will ever separate us from the love of Christ.
John 6:39: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Jesus is speaking here and telling the people that God sent him to fulfill His will and His will is that every one of us who is called by God will remain in God forever.
Ok, one last verse…I promise. :-) This verse transformed my thinking. It is God’s promise and God is faithful always because it is in His very essence to be faithful.
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Notice there is no disclaimer. There is no catch. There are no ifs ands or buts. When we confess our sins, God forgives us and he washes us clean. We can live that victorious life now. I know so because I am living that life by the grace of God.
Psalm 103 is fantastic. Check out the whole thing. Here are verses 8-13:
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
James 4:1-10
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? There fore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud , but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James gives a precise reason for why the world is the way it is. Sin in our lives creates quarrels and fights and anguish and shame. When I read that, I realized just how much of a friend I had been calling the world for so long. The Bible says that we are strangers on this earth. It says that it is not our home but our citizenship is in Heaven and we are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to return bringing with him our permanent home. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. These two happen simultaneously. As we focus on God, especially Christ, satan’s strongholds weaken and are destroyed.
2 Timothy 2:20,21
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
That we could be useful to the Master, the Sovereign God of the Universe?! This is the cry of my heart. The Bible gives us not only the way to do so, but the promise that it will happen when we submit fully to Jesus Christ!
Isaiah 6:1-7
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”
Isaiah saw the Lord and immediately he felt completely unworthy. God was well within his righteousness to agree with Isaiah and condemn him. Instead, God cleansed Isaiah from his sin, took his guilt away, and made him righteous. Even though this is in the Old Testament, Isaiah’s righteousness was still because of his faith in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament bear witness about him.
Luke 15 contains the account of the prodigal son. What a story of a father's unfailing love for his son even after the son squandered his entire inheritance. In the same way, God is waiting for those who have strayed to come home to His arms and experience His grace and forgiveness.
I hope from these Scripture you’ve seen the theme of God restoring His people despite their sin and guilt. I also wanted to share verses that have spoken to me and given me strength to move away from a life that was not pleasing to God. It is more than possible for everyone to do the same; it is a guarantee. The catch is that we have to believe it by faith and trust that God will do what He says He will. It’s only by His grace that we are even able to realize this fact and have faith to begin with. He’s a God of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy and He is my everything.
I wanted to end with a few verses from Romans. Paul wrote Romans basically as his doctrine of faith. It includes everything that Paul had revealed to him by God regarding our salvation, Jesus Christ, our future, Israel, and how we should live in the Spirit of God. These verses are the shortened version of the Gospel message that Christ spoke while on earth and God still speaks today through the Holy Scriptures and the Body of Christ, His church.
Romans 3:23,24
The problem of man:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
We all stand condemned before a righteous God. It is a free gift of God that we might be made righteous before Him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
Romans 6:23
The price of sin:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 5:8
The payment for sin:
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 10:9
The promise of God:
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In chapter 8 Paul starts off by saying that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The grace of God! At the end of chapter 8, Paul writes that he is convinced that nothing can or will ever separate us from the love of Christ.
John 6:39: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Jesus is speaking here and telling the people that God sent him to fulfill His will and His will is that every one of us who is called by God will remain in God forever.
Ok, one last verse…I promise. :-) This verse transformed my thinking. It is God’s promise and God is faithful always because it is in His very essence to be faithful.
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Notice there is no disclaimer. There is no catch. There are no ifs ands or buts. When we confess our sins, God forgives us and he washes us clean. We can live that victorious life now. I know so because I am living that life by the grace of God.
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