"FREE FROM THE INDWELLING OF SIN"

Good Evening to All!

I must say, that this is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. At the time which I was baptized in Jesus' Name and received the Holy Ghost, these words spoke volumes.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 NKJV

It seems like it took me forever to understand and actually believe this passage. I could not for the life of me understand how God could forgive my past life. I won't go into details, but I will just say I did things in my much younger days for which I am not proud, and I find it hard to forgive myself, let alone my Creator, my Father in Heaven forgiving me. I use to joke around about it (being defensive) and say God doesn't have to condemn me, I do enough for both of us.

Even to this day, even knowing much more, and having a closer relationship with Him, I still wonder every time I hear that song "Do You Still Feel the Nails?". Whoever wrote that must have been channeling my thoughts at the time.

There are still times that I go up to the altar in church and cry my eyes out because I feel so unworthy of His forgiveness.

I have to keep reminding myself that God says in His Word that He forgives me of my sins, allowed His fleshly body to die on the cross for them. What right do I have to wallow in self-guilt? If God forgives me, what right do I have to feel guilty and not forgive myself? NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER.

If I am feeling condemnation, I need to shake off that feeling, get it out of my mind, because it is definitely not from God. Every little seed, every little dig, that Satan can put in our minds gives him a little power over us, which is something we don't want. We have to remember that Sin cannot enter into heaven, and if Satan can get a strong enough hold on us by little things here and there, eventually we will end up putting God on the back burner instead of in the forefront and that would be disastrous for our eternal soul.

Believe in God. Believe in God's mercy. Believe that He has forgiven you for your sins, or will forgive you if you will ask Him. REPENT. To obtain forgiveness we MUST repent, which means to turn away from sin and not do it (whatever we are asking forgiveness for) again.

God is merciful, but eventually, if a person just keeps doing the same thing over and over again He will turn away from them . (Yes, I do have scripture for that ). Second Timothy 3:1-6 talks about that subject.

I like what Joyce Meyer says in her book the "Everyday Life Bible (Amplified Version).

She says: Even though Romans 8:1 teaches us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, many believers still struggle greatly with guilt and condemnation. Because of our love for God we want to do what is right, yet there re times we walk in the flesh instead of in the Spirit and we make mistakes. We sin and make wrong choices. When we realize we have sinned, we should quickly and thoroughly repent, being willing to turn away from the sin and do what is right with God's help. Once we have repented and asked God to forgive us, we are not to continue carrying those heavy burdens of condemnation. Jesus delivered us from both iniquity and guilt. When we repent and ask God to forgive us, He not only forgives, but He forgets and removes our sin as far as the east is from the west (see Psalm 203:12; Hebrews 10:17, 18)".

I really enjoy her practical way of looking at the scriptures.

We must remember that God is love, and God is truth. God CANNOT lie, therefore EVERYTHING He says in His Word is pure truth. So this means that He does forgive our sins and He does forget them.

I have a logical question for you though. In my way of thinking, it is imperative that we forgive ourselves and not bring our sins up in our mind and hearts again after asking for God's forgiveness and repenting because, if we keep thinking about it (God can read our thoughts) and we keep praying about it or bringing it up, how can we expect him to forget it?

I will leave you with that thought.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!