Freedom

We've all done it. Messed up, I mean. We all have done things in our life that seem so horrible, so bad, that every time we think about what we have done, we cringe.

There were times in my life that I can remember laying in my bed at night, replaying some wrong I had committed over and over again in my mind. It really doesn't matter what it was, I could not forgive myself. I could not let it go. I could not get past what I had done.

Think for a minute about your life. What wrongs have you committed that seem impossible for others, even God, to forgive.

John 8:31-32

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

If what Jesus says is true, that the truth sets you free, then the opposite is also true. Lies bind us. They strap us in, cage us in, and tell us false truths that are meant to keep us from the freedom that comes through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

So here is the truth:

Romans 6:6-7

(If you have been united with Christ) ... we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If you are a believer in Christ, the truth is that your sins, not just part of them, not just the small ones, all of your them have been nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ and you no longer have to bear the punishment that you deserve because of your mistakes. No longer do you have to shoulder that burden, Jesus did that for you. As a result you are set free. You are no longer bound by some obligation to some law that you broke. No matter how hideous the crimes you have committed, you are now set free.

The Father of Lies likes to tell us otherwise. He likes to remind us that we continue to sin, and he likes to tell us that our sins are unforgivable. When he whispers those lies into your ear, remember the truth:

Psalm 103:12

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

You are free!