Free from all sin
‘We want you to know, fellow Israelites, that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; and everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.’ (verses 38,39)
Read Acts 13:26-43
Just read that text again. ‘Through Jesus the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you.’ There it is, the crux of the Christian faith. Forgiveness of sins is given to you through the death and resurrection of Christ. No other religion offers this. No amount of obeying God’s laws will grant this. No human can equal that claim.
Pause a while and contemplate what it truly means to you. You are justified, which means you are free from sin and are righteous in God’s eyes. This happens not by your own actions but through Jesus. All the pressure of having to live up to what you perceive as God’s standards is eased.
It cannot be stressed enough. You are unable to come to God in any other way but through his Son. And that path is free for everyone. Thank God.
I am forgiven, Lord, because of your grace. How wonderful that is. Thank you. Amen.
by Kathy Hoopmann, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)
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