When you put your trust in Jesus for salvation God instantly imparted His life and righteousness to you, along with many other things vital to your faith and experience in Christ. You will spend the rest of your life plumbing the depths of all that He has already made true in you; knowing these things is a game changer for how you grow and experience God’s presence in your life. The more we understand what God has done for us, the more we can understand who God truly is!
To get the most out of this series on your identity in Christ, you will want to humble yourself before God and ask Him to reveal Himself to your through this study. Set aside the things that hinder you from listening to God in His Word. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in a new way through your study of God’s Word.
The first, and most important thing for you to know is that God has given you the gift of forgiveness through your faith in Christ. We need forgiveness, because without it we are under judgement, unfit for God’s use or fellowship with Him. But notice what Colossians 2:13-14 tells us about what God did for us through faith in Christ: ” When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (NIV).
You see that being dead in our sins is a thing of the past…He FORGAVE US ALL our sins! He CANCELED (once and for all time) our legal indebtedness and the condemnation we used to live under– He has TAKEN IT AWAY, NAILING IT TO THE CROSS! Romans 8:1 goes on to tell us “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”. We must receive this amazing truth into our lives, counting upon it and celebrating it with confident faith–Jesus has secured forgiveness for all our sins–past, present and future!
Because of what Christ has done for you; your record has been swept clean, now you can approach God with confidence for the grace you need to keep on living for Him (Hebrews 4:16) You do not need to approach God with fear any longer, because “perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18), and God not only has perfect love for you, but He is the very embodiment of love! (1 John 4:8). You can now approach God freely because Jesus has made the way for you through forgiveness.
How will this change the way you approach God? How might this change the way you approach life? Wow, what an amazing journey God has brought us on! Thank God today for the gift of His complete forgiveness!