Salvation, Sin & Forgiveness

Our sins are forgiven.  What does that mean exactly?  Or when someone says, “are you saved?”  Saved from what?  If you didn’t grow up in the south, or around church going folks, you may wonder what on earth “saved” means.

I would love to share what it means to me.

First, let’s see what the dictionary has to say about salvation.

Salvation-1a: deliverance from the power and effects of sin

Saved-verb-1a: to deliver from sin 1b: to rescue or deliver from danger or harm 1c: to preserve or guard from injury, destruction, or loss

What is sin exactly?  Again, let’s look to the dictionary.

Sin-1a: an offense against religious or moral law 1b: an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible 1c: an often serious shortcoming 2a: transgression of the law of God 2b: a vitiated (made faulty or defective, to be made ineffective) state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God

So what does this look like?  What does this mean?  What is sin?  What does it mean to receive salvation and forgiveness of sins?

Let me start with the Bible.  I believe the Bible is the Word of God, a beautiful book that gives instruction for life.

Hebrews 4:12-13 (ESV) says, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.”  

The Message translation says it this way, “God means what he says.  What he says goes.  His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.  Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word.  We can’t get away from it-no matter what.”

In the TPT it reads this way - “For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, like a two mouthed sword it will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet!  It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts.  There is not one person who can hide their thoughts from God, for nothing that we do remains a secret, and nothing created is concealed, but everything is exposed and defenseless before his eyes, to whom we must render an account.”

The Bible speaks very clearly  about salvation, sin and forgiveness.

Acts 4:12

There is salvation in no one else!  God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

* Salvation is necessary and can only come from God.

2 Timothy 1:9

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life.  He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time-to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

* Salvation is God’s plan.

Acts 2:21

But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

* Salvation is an invitation to all.

Romans 10:10

For it is believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Colossians 1:19-20

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.  He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Isaiah 53:5

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Romans 6:23 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:8-10

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

* Salvation is a free gift, given by God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  All we have to do is believe in our heart that Jesus came and lived a sinless life among us, he shed his blood on a cross, he was buried and raised to life, and now through Him we can live forever with Him.

So now, what does this mean to me?  Let me tell you a bit of my story in HIStory.  I grew up in a family where salvation was a familiar word.  My mom’s Dad was a pastor and he loved Jesus with his whole heart, mind and soul.  I think his family would say his only fault was that he loved Jesus more than anyone, and is that really even a fault?  He prayed over us daily, so much so that the carpet by his bed was worn.  Just thinking about that overwhelms me.  Was he perfect?  I am sure he couldn’t have been, as the the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “we have all sinned and fallen short of his glory.”  I will tell you this though, the way he lived was so much like the Jesus I know, and I pray that I can learn to live that way too.  My family was a very mixed bunch, with some loving Jesus and living a life to please him, and some running as fast and hard as they could from that life.  I saw many colors of life in our bunch.  I saw sweet and kind and mean and nasty.  I saw forgiveness and I saw unforgiveness.  I saw judgement and I saw grace.  Our family has gone through trials and we’ve all come out on the other side.  We have known what is it like to live in peace and to live without it.  We are not perfect, but we are all still together and I am so thankful for this.

Growing up in this family and being introduced to Jesus at such a young age I have always known the Father’s love.  I really can’t remember a day without him.  Because I grew up this way I don’t really remember the day when I officially accepted him as Lord of my life, but I do very clearly remember the day I confessed that I had, before a church full of people.  In that church my precious grandfather baptized me and took me under that water that washes clean.  I was really young and not sure I fully realized at all what that meant, but I believe my life was forever changed in that moment.

As life went on, I grew and lived and did so many things that in my heart I knew were not right.  I believe that moment of knowing God and confessing my faith in him is what told my heart what was right and wrong for me.  The Bible says in James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him/her it is sin.”

So to me Sin is a knowing in your heart, the heart you’ve given to Christ, what is right for you and what is wrong.  I can tell you too that what the Bible says is right and wrong is coming from a God who knows us well and loves us so.  He really does know what is best for us!  When we meet Jesus and invite him into our lives he comes in spirit to live inside our hearts, and when he does he brings conviction.  When he lives in our heart we can know how he’d have us live.  Can we live a perfect life?  The Bible says, no.  Again, in Romans it says, “we have have all sinned and fallen short of his glory.”  But, can we have salvation as sinners?  Yes.  Should we go on living in sin, without repentance?  No.  The Bible also says in Romans 6:14-16 (in Christ) “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.  Instead, you live in freedom under God’s grace.  Well then, since God’s grace has  set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning?  Of course not!  Don’t you realize that you become a slave to whatever you choose to obey?  You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” 

SO what does this mean?  It means we can choose life!  We can choose to live in Christ and for Christ.  In Christ we can know salvation, in Christ we can know freedom, and in freedom we can know peace.  

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 says, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses.  Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make.  Oh that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!  You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him.  This is the key to your life.  And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Father let us choose life this day.  Let us walk in forgiveness, received and given.  Let us seek you first and walk in obedience to you daily.  Let us choose you to be ours as you have chosen us to be yours.  In the beautiful name of your son I pray, amen ♥️

Thank you again for letting me share with you and pour out my heart.  If you have never known Jesus and you would like to please feel free to reach out.  I’d love nothing more than to introduce you to the greatest love you will ever know.

#heartforhisword2022

My pastor always says, “Before you start your day, God has something to say”.  I love this so much, and I have definitely found it to be true.

This morning as I sat in the Father’s presence, He spoke so sweetly to me from Psalm 5.

My heart today is to encourage you to jump into his Word and let him love up on you too.

I promise you, no body will EVER love you like Jesus.  My children love me so much and my husband is the sweetest around.  My dog Charlie comes closer than anyone to perfect love, but the love of the Father, of Jesus, well there is just no love like His.  The Father’s love is completely perfect, without flaw, almost beyond comprehension.  He is sweet and kind and wise and full of power.  He gently rights me when I am wrong, he sees me, he hears me, he knows my name and he knows your name.  He is the greatest friend you will ever have.  I really can’t say enough about him.  He is honestly better than anything you could ever imagine, and all my heart wants in this world is for this world to know him.

As I sit here this morning talking of how wonderful he is, please know that I am very aware that he doesn’t always seem present and sometimes he feels very, very far away.  As a matter of fact, my family and I are dealing with some really hard stuff right now.  My mama is very sick and my sweet Dad has a 100 decisions to make, only he is having trouble putting one foot in front of the other.  My  mama-in-law is sick as well and so often in a lot of pain; my precious father-in-law is her care giver and he is tired.  My husband is dealing with health issues, work is a little slow, and my daughters often deal with fear and anxiety.  My friends have parents and children who are dealing with things too, so many things.  I have friends who have children that are really sick and in need of miracles.  I have friends who are dealing with depression or have children who are dealing with depression.  My children sometimes struggle with depression and I have super sad days myself. Sometimes I don’t even know why I am sad, and yet it’s heavy and it’s real.  Life can be really, really hard and there are people all over the world that have it 1,000 times harder than things I’ve just listed.  People are lost and scared and addicted to things that are going to kill them, then there are the ones who are profiting on the things they push that they know are going to kill.  The world is a big fat mess and sometimes it is really hard to see a God in charge at all.  I know some who really struggle with believing there is any one who cares.  I fully realize that so many people are dealing with things that are so incredibly hard, losing someone they love to another or losing someone they love through death.  I cannot even pretend to understand how hard that must be.  And the thing is, we never know who is walking through what, but I think we can know that all of us are walking through something and our somethings are often bigger than we can handle alone.  Again, life on this planet can be really hard!

In John 16:33 we are actually told that here on earth we WILL have many trials and sorrows, but He tells us to take heart because He has overcome the world. 

I know this to be true as I have gone through some pretty tough things in my 54 years, but the Father has proven himself faithful over and over and over again.  He has never once left me.  Have there been times when I couldn’t really feel his presence,?  Yes, for sure, but in those times I held tightly to His Word, and his Word promises He will NEVER leave me or forsake me.  I can tell you too that as I kept pressing in, His presence would eventually wash over me again.

My heart today is to encourage you to jump into His Word with me.  In His Word you will find peace, joy, comfort, power, strength, courage, healing, even discipline, but in His Word you will find Him.  In Jeremiah 29:13 he promises that too.  He is our creator, the one who knows us better than we know ourselves.  He is the knower of our hearts and the lover of our souls.  He is mighty and gracious and long suffering and patient and kind.  He is the greatest gift you can give and the greatest gift you will ever be given!  He really can be known and known well, all you have to do is open his Word and let him begin to speak to your heart.

I BELIEVE the Bible is the true Word of God!  I believe it is for today and I believe it is eternal.  Is it sometimes super weird and strange and hard to understand?  For me, absolutely!  But is it good and sweet and full of life and power to save?  Again yes, for me, absolutely!

Let me share just a few verses with you today … 

John 1:1-5

In the beginning, the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

II Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Hebrews 4:12

For the Word of God is alive and powerful.  It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.  It exposes our inmost thoughts and desires.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.  Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.  So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Thank you for letting me pour out my heart ♥️