Welcome to Hank’s Place — Updated Classics
We have been pointing out that the Cross has changed….everything. And it is all for the GOOD!
Let’s have a reminder of the time period the Gospels relate. Where is the Cross in the Gospels? Near the end of each one, right? That means all of what you read in the Gospels, until the very end, are events that happened UNDER THE LAW. Jesus was born, lived, and died under the LAW.
When Jesus spoke, it was to people who were under the LAW. Keep in mind that the Gospel is the Good News of the GRACE of God that would come to us AFTER Jesus did His marvelous work at Calvary.
Let’s look at an example. In Mt 6:14-15 Jesus says, “…if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Read that and you see God’s forgiveness of you is conditional on your forgiveness of others. When Jesus spoke those words, BEFORE the Cross, it was totally TRUE.
But we are living AFTER the Cross! Let’s read Colossians 2:13, written AFTER the Cross. Paul writes, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” Friend, we were forgiven while we were lost and dead in our sins. Here is Colossians 3:13, “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
So what do we believe? Do we have to forgive first in order to be forgiven, or are we already forgiven? Before the Cross, HAD to forgive FIRST. AFTER the Cross, we forgive — in overwhelming thankfulness at knowing we ourselves have APLREADY been forgiven. Before the Cross, forgiveness was something God would DO—but ONLY IF we did our part first. After the Cross, forgiveness is something God GIVES. It’s a gift by God’s grace—and something we receive.
The Gospel is the Good News. It declares what GOD has done for us, and not what we must do to satisfy God!
Dear friend: we ARE already forgiven. Of every sin, every transgression, every missing of the mark. Let’s give a shout out to Jesus! Tell that cloud condemnation you may be under to hit the road. RECEIVE that gift of forgiveness. RECEIVE His gift of righteousness. Then, out of gratitude and joy, forgive others—you’ll COME ALIVE!
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