FROM PASTOR TIM
Thanks to all for your feedback from Sunday as we ended our little section in Hebrews on Melchizedek. The main idea from Sunday’s message was that Jesus saves to the “uttermost” (ESV’s word).
That word is remarkable. Recall the account of the woman that Jesus healed who was unable to straighten up…she could not stand up “to the uttermost”. But she could after Jesus healed her.
I have received feedback about the powerful notion that Jesus saves us…totally. For the Christian, there is no more imprisonment to guilt, shame or any kind of stranglehold that past sins can hold over us. Why?
Because Jesus saves to the UTTERMOST.
The hard truth of the matter is this…please forgive me….but, if you are still languishing in guilt or shame, it means you have not completely appropriated the truth AND magnitude of Jesus’ work on the cross.
Jesus is God, currently, still, and always advocating on our behalf before the Father. Always, eternally, forever.
If you are unable to forgive yourself, you will continue to live in some level of imprisonment. Jesus freed us from THAT! We are free from that. Free! If Jesus forgives us, died for us and rose for us, then we must forgive ourselves as an expression of true freedom. He saves to the uttermost.
The degree to which we hand over our sins to Jesus and rest in that truth is directly proportional to the degree with which we understand AND accept Jesus’ eternal, divine work on the cross.
In other words, the more we allow our guilt and shame to define us, the smaller is our view of Jesus’ work on the cross. Do you see that?
The solution is to prayerfully pursue the truth daily of Christ’s supreme work on the cross, which is eternally immense. Memorize these verses (and others):
Isaiah 53:5:
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
1 Peter 2:24:
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
And if we need to chat…you know how to get a hold of me. The gift of freedom is one of the true gifts of the Gospel, and it’s our through faith.
So embrace the gift!
Stumbling and bumbling with you all through this life; with eyes fixed on the One who straightens us up…to the uttermost!
Pastor Tim