If you
have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are a new creation according
to the Bible. Just take a look at Paul’s second letter to the believers at
Corinth where he writes in chapter five, verses 17-19 (NIV) –
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself
through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against
them. And he has committed us to the message of reconciliation.
As a
follower of Jesus, your life is not always perfect. I know mine hasn’t been. I
accepted Jesus as my savior and was baptized when I was 13 years old. Since
that time I have committed a multitude of sins, many of which I believed were
unforgiveable. My granddaddy always called this retreat from belief as “backsliding.” But granddaddy always assured me that
this temporary condition can be remedied through confession of the sin and
doing, “a 180 back to Jesus.”
Even
though I wrestled many times over this about-face type of confession and new
birth in Jesus, as I read the Bible, I found His saving grace to be a real and
prominent message throughout the New Testament.
Recently as
I participated with ladies of the community in a Monday evening Bible study, Mercy Triumphs, authored by Beth Moore, Moore’s study was a comprehensive examination of the book of James, an epistle
that is believed by most biblical scholars to have been written by Jesus’s brother
James.
During the
study I found unparalleled confirmation that, as always, my granddaddy had hit
the proverbial nail on the head with his 180-plan of restoring sinners to faith
and getting back in God’s good graces.
My copy of
the Quest Study Bible concurs with
Moore’s teachings in this study with its
introduction to the book of James, which poses the question, “Why read this
book?” explaining, “…James shows it’s possible to believe the right things, yet
live the wrong way…”
James’s
commentary on how to live life as a Christian was written to the believers of
the day, but certainly rings true for us today, especially if you, like me,
have been a backslider and fallen away from your commitment to God on more than
one occasion.
If you have experienced the same sinful
condition, take heart by reading James’s closing, where he assures us of God’s
forgiveness in The Prayer of Faith found
in Chapter 5, verses 13-19 (NIV) –
13 Is
anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing
songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the
elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of
the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well; the Lord will raise them up. If
they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 My
brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone
should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns
a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a
multitude of sins.
Our God is definitely an Awesome God, one who understands the human condition He created and is willing to make all of us a new creation in Him if we just confess and believe. If you are experiencing sin that you feel alienates you from God, remember we are all sinners and He is ready, willing and able to forgive.
Confess
your sins today; get right with God; adopt the 180-plan. None of us are
guaranteed the next second on this earth; make sure you know where you will
spend eternity.
And, as is
always my prayer for you, May God bless each and every one of you
every day in every way. Amen!
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