I CAME TO SAVE
Today’s Text: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Today’s Thoughts: Jesus did not only come to save us from the result of our sin – death, He came to save us from sin itself. He has a better life for us. He wants us to put sin behind us and live with the joy and peace of this better life. It was never God’s desire for us to have to suffer so much, He longs for the day when He can take us to our heavenly home free from pain and heartache. Right now He wants to give us relief from so much of our sorrow by helping us to gain victory over our sins. He came to save us from our sins. That’s how much He loves us!
Today’s Testimony: Today we’re going to take a look to see if God really wants us to stop sinning. Some say we can never stop and therefore try to resist temptation, but hardly. We sometimes take advantage of Christ’s mercy and sin, believing that we can simply run to Him for forgiveness and all will be well. Does God require more of us?
We already shared the text that states that God came to save us from our sins, obviously meaning that He doesn’t want us to live in sin any longer. Our next text is Galatians 2:17, 18, “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” Ok, so this tells us that we are not to be found as sinners. What is it that we have destroyed and should not build up? “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:9, 10). When did this putting off of the old man take place? “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we accept Christ into our lives He gives us the strength to live a new life in Him. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This means that our own sinful lives die and we allow Christ to live out His life in us. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. (1 Peter 2:21, 22). Christ left us the example of a sinless life. “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. …He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:5,6,8,9). This passage is pretty strong, but it shares a logical truth. But we can sin a little right? “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10) – obviously not. But does God really intend for us not to sin? Can we stop? Well, for starters, read Hebrews 12:4. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin”. Now I don’t know about you, but this is my problem. I think for most of us if not all of us, Satan tempts us, we may try to resist for a while, but we give in without too much of a fight. God wants us to strive against sin as though our lives depended on it, and to put it plainly – they do.
Ok, so now we have a problem. God wants us to be free from sin, but we are so weak. Tomorrow we’ll share texts that can help us gain victory over sin. But for now, let’s solve our problem. Read the following text: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Problem solved! God doesn’t want us to live in sin any longer. He wants us to put sinning behind us. He wants us to strive against sin and be victorious. However, if we do sin, He wants us to know that we are not beyond His mercy. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ. He doesn’t intend for us to sin knowing that we have an advocate and can be forgiven afterwards, but He does want us to know that there is hope for His battling people when they realize they have sinned. God loves us enough to free us from our lives of sin, and to forgive us when we err. We serve an amazing and loving God. I choose to live for Him and strive against sin. I hope you do too.
Today’s Task: Strive against sin with God’s help. Live the better life that God longs for you to enjoy – the life free from sin. Ask Him to give you the strength. Know that God’s children do not sin. But know that God is merciful if they do. Surrender your selfish and sinful desires to the Lord and live for Him with your whole heart. He has done all He can for you.
Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You came to free us from sin. Please help us to turn away from our lives of sin. I thank You that we are not beyond Your mercy when we fall. But please help us not to take advantage of that mercy and sin presumptuously. We want to live for You. I thank You that You can give us the power to do so. Please save us from ourselves. Amen.
