Anyone who belongs to Christ has
become a new person. The old life
is gone; a new life has begun.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
Recently, I heard a TV preacher say, "Don't stay parked in the past"
become a new person. The old life
is gone; a new life has begun.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
Recently, I heard a TV preacher say, "Don't stay parked in the past"
Good advice. Once having repented of all my sins with a sincere heart and asking the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive me, which I did, I then received the promise from God's word as found in the Bible, that I am forgiven.
But what often gets overlooked is that with God's forgiveness comes a new life. He has wiped the slate clean. In God's eyes, a new life has begun. "He forgave all my sins"(Psalm 103:3). "He has removed my sins as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). He will never remember them anymore.
No matter how terrible my past sins were - and many of them were certainly appalling and ghastly - the blood Jesus shed on the cross was sufficient payment for them. And while I am required to suffer society's punishment for my crimes, which I regret having committed and can never undo, the fact remains that in God's eyes my transgressions have been fully atoned for.
Therefore, based on what God has declared, I need not beat myself up over past offenses. I don't have to allow myself to be overcome by endless cycles of shame and guilt and regret. But it took me awhile to learn this. The understanding and acceptance of such an amazing magnitude of mercy was not easy to grasp. Yet, as I increased in the knowledge of God's word and continued to grow in faith, I was eventually able to accept this.
While there are some who would have liked for me to stay parked in the past with its feelings of unworthiness and condemnation, to do so would be an insult to the One who saved me from all my sins. When God says, "NO PARKING ALLOWED!" He means it.
D.B.
But what often gets overlooked is that with God's forgiveness comes a new life. He has wiped the slate clean. In God's eyes, a new life has begun. "He forgave all my sins"(Psalm 103:3). "He has removed my sins as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). He will never remember them anymore.
No matter how terrible my past sins were - and many of them were certainly appalling and ghastly - the blood Jesus shed on the cross was sufficient payment for them. And while I am required to suffer society's punishment for my crimes, which I regret having committed and can never undo, the fact remains that in God's eyes my transgressions have been fully atoned for.
Therefore, based on what God has declared, I need not beat myself up over past offenses. I don't have to allow myself to be overcome by endless cycles of shame and guilt and regret. But it took me awhile to learn this. The understanding and acceptance of such an amazing magnitude of mercy was not easy to grasp. Yet, as I increased in the knowledge of God's word and continued to grow in faith, I was eventually able to accept this.
While there are some who would have liked for me to stay parked in the past with its feelings of unworthiness and condemnation, to do so would be an insult to the One who saved me from all my sins. When God says, "NO PARKING ALLOWED!" He means it.
D.B.
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