Have you ever been haunted by your past? Those sins or just plain stupid things you did that hurt others? Those rotten actions you committed that you cannot understand how people ever forgave you? Or maybe they never have forgiven you, but you know that God has. I have been there just this past week.
Some random reminiscence brought back to my memory behavior, which, today, I would consider horrendous. At the time of that awful behavior, I wasn’t walking in God’s will, and I did not see my actions then as I see them today.
Those past sins have been forgiven by God for many years. Yet, just when I think I am walking in God’s ways and doing all things to His glory, those past actions got right in my face to accuse me of being a fallen soul. Ouch!
What caused that remembrance and that horrible sinking feeling that I can never be right before God? Satan, of course. Satan is named as the accuser in the Bible. Rev. 12:10. He not only gets in my face, but he stands before God and accuses me of my very sinful deeds pretending he doesn’t know that Jesus is my personal defender or even that Jesus died and rose again to pay the debt due for my sin.
At times such as this, we must remind ourselves that our victory over sin is not in ourselves but in Jesus and His wondrous work on the cross of taking the punishment of death for our sins. Rom. 3:24.
All Jesus’ work was done so that we might have freedom in God – not freedom to sin – but the freedom to stand strong in our faith. Gal. 5:1. Like the woman standing before Him when found in her adultery, we hear Jesus saying to us, “Go and sin no more.”
Instead of holding our head down in shame for our past deeds and bemoaning our behavior that has already been forgiven, we need instead to be praising and thanking our Savior for the work He has done for us. For His gracious forgiveness and tenderness to us.
When we are being tormented by past behaviors is the very time we need to praise God more, and out loud! Let Satan know that he has no hold on us.
Jesus tells us, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:28. We who believe are in God’s hands forever and always secure.
As Christians who have repented of our past sins and have been forgiven by God, we do not need to live in shame. If we truly repented and turned from our wicked ways, God freely forgave our sin, and it is in the past. We can be very thankful that, for God, the remembrance of our sin is “as far as the east is from the west.”
There may be consequences for our sin here on Earth but in God’s eyes, Jesus has taken away the scorn and punishment due us from God. Unfortunately, humans are not always as gracious as our God in granting us forgiveness. Even though our pleas to others to be forgiven may never be answered, we can stand assured that God has heard us and forgiven us.
Jesus was crucified not for His sin, because Jesus was sinless, but for our sins. He voluntarily gave His life in exchange for ours. He rose from the grave on Sunday morning defeating Satan. This is why we joyously celebrate Easter. We receive our freedom because of Jesus’ sacrifice. “What great love the Father has lavished upon us!” Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice that I have been set free!
This freedom from sin is a gift from God to all who seek it. We are told “knock and the door will be opened.” God wishes none to perish and welcomes all of us with the open arms of a Father. In celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, we are celebrating our new life in Christ. To say we are ‘in Christ’ means we follow His actions and teachings and live as Jesus lived on Earth.
Jesus lived a pure and sinless life and that is to be our goal when we acknowledge that He is Lord of our lives. We fail in many ways to live up to this goal but always when we seek God’s forgiveness for our failure, it is granted. Just as in other areas of our lives, we prayerfully learn from our mistakes and strive to not repeat them.
Christians often speak of our journey or walk with Christ. Isn’t that a wonderful image? You and me walking side by side with Jesus and learning from our Lord. Jesus told us, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” explaining that we can easily learn from Him how to walk in His ways.
We must learn from our past mistakes, but we should never permit Satan to accuse us again once we have repented. Let us remember that once the Son has set us free, we are free indeed. John 8:36.
Our joy is now complete! Easter! Oh, glorious day! The day we were set free!
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
