Verse-a-day - 15 July 2015
I like God because he changes the way I think about myself
Danny Fourie
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus … is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34
Holy. In Christ. Yes, I am holy in Christ.
A pastor said he missed this fact when he responded to an e-mail from someone. The person wrote that he was so sorry about the things he did in the past. But, he writes, he knows that God has forgiven him. He was such a sinner, but God is good.
The minister comforted his friend and said he was not the only sinner. He, the minister, was as much a sinner as his friend. But then the minister saw his mistake. He was encouraging his friend by saying to him that he should not feel bad, he was not the only sinner. What a comfort that is, the minister thought. Are the two of them still lying in the ditch? No, he realized, they are no longer in the ditch of life. They are no longer sinners at all.
Does Paul not say it clear enough in his letter? Everyone who has accepted Christ as his Saviour is no longer a sinner, but rather a saint.
Then the minister wrote to his friend: Meet your new “I”. You are a new creation, a new man in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
You and I should also meet our new “I”. Do not write it off as just another nice thought. You are not making a fool of yourself. God’s love does not blind him. He knows we are spoiled. But he also knows that we died in Christ, were buried with him and rose again with him, and that we have become a new man in Christ. We are now "sons of our Father". And what is more we look like him.
Prayer: Thank you Lord that you made me a new man in Christ. Thank you for the salvation, thank you that no one can judge me and that I am holy. Amen