This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24 (NIV).
When I was just a little guy I threw a hammer through our picture window.
My dad, watching the glass shards fall to the grass, shouted, “Why did you do that?”
My reply was classic. “It was dirty,” I told him. I knew better. Dad cautioned me a dozen times not to pick up his hammer.
That little I-want-to-see-what-dad-will-do trick of mine condemned me to death and eternity in hell. And until I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior it would have. The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23. Any sin. Every sin. All sins.
But we know, and we have known since we were saved, that, “ALL are justified (found not guilty) freely (at no cost to us) by His (God’s) grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (and His death on the cross).
The problem lots of us have (who don’t know our true identity in Christ) is that we don’t believe it. Consequently we can’t understand it. So, it’s impossible for us to live out of our redemption in Jesus. We find it hard to believe that Jesus would die for all the sins we’ve committed that seem, to us, unforgivable. That He’d take all our sins (and the death we deserve) upon Himself.
We tell others we’re saved. We accept that we’re saved. Because we don’t really believe what our salvation really is, we spend years concocting a personal identity for ourselves based on what we think and feel about ourselves. And worse, what OTHERS think our identity ought to be.
The identity we create for ourselves, however, has little if anything to do with what God thinks of us. Who God says we are. Without knowing our true identity in Christ our thoughts and feelings determine how we live. We study the Bible, pray, worship, fellowship with others and serve the way we think we should. The way we think God wants us to.
When we finally learn our true identity in Christ, the guilt and shame we feel about all those sins Jesus forgave will dissipate.
Next: Not Condemned
For His Glory 
Hey Steven, I liked the story (a personal one) to be used here as an example in truth. This is what makes it real… understandable to people whom will read this and (hopefully) relate with it. I share with you my view of the ‘glass’ as well. See below the link, an older post but it has been re-vamped.
https://wordsthathavemeaning.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/hardened-by-rebellion-glass-to-stone/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not in a competition with you Steven, please know this (as we are in one body of Christ Jesus), but I wanted to share this- from the heart. I hope you enjoyed your Passover as well!
LikeLike
Thank you for your comment.
LikeLike
Loved it. Followed the link and read it. Penetrating thoughts. Thanks for sharing the link. God bless.
LikeLike
Great post. The Biblical response is to REPENT, and TRUST in Jesus. When you sincerely do that, you get a new identity in Christ, which Jesus called being born again (literally “born from above”).John 3:3
He is God almighty … he doesn’t need our acceptance… we need His!
Once saved (born again) we must follow the Great Commission. Preach the Gospel. We are all sinners… deserving Hell. But for those who Repent and put their Trust (faith) in Jesus, their sins have been paid for by the blood of Jesus. Sadly, Jesus said, few will find it. So get out there and be obedient to His great commission.
LikeLike
Great thoughts. Thank you for sharing. And thank you for your encouragement.
LikeLike
Amen, Jason. Thank you for your comment.
LikeLike