Who Am I ?

I am a forgiven sinner, no more, no less!

Jesus came to call sinners like me.

For I have come, to call sinners to repentance Mat 9:13 [MKJV].

As I lay in bed one Sunday morning, I felt as if God was telling me that the only way I could worship Him was on the basis of being a “forgiven sinner”. Nothing that I could do for myself, nothing that church position or good works could give me, nothing that family membership could afford me would be of any help here. His unmerited grace had provided it all. Paul wrote:

For by grace you are saved through faith,… not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Eph 2:8 [MKJV]

My ability to worship God [worship meaning my entire relationship with Him] is based solely on His forgiveness “today”.

Yesterday doesn’t matter anymore. The past is forgiven. I come to worship with a clean slate. He has done it all for me!

John declared it! But if we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. 1Jn 1:9 [GNB]

As I come to worship, I may be reminded of past sins, but they are forgotten by my Redeemer. He says” I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins”. Heb 10:17 [MSG]

I now understand that everyone who worships with me will be worshiping on the same basis. We are all forgiven sinners. That includes pastors, church leaders, musicians, and the entire congregation ….everyone! We are all free to worship without condemnation. There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus. . Rom 8:1 [GNB]

Once I have confessed my sins and asked forgiveness, there is nothing that can hinder my worship as far as God is concerned. This is a very freeing concept, one that I wish I had really understood in my heart when I was a young Christian.

Fully understanding that truth would have given me freedom from a lot of guilt that I didn’t need to carry. Condemnation was a frequent companion. I was listening to my own thoughts rather than understanding what God had declared. He was more willing to forgive and forget than I was. Paul puts it very well when he says: “the one thing I do, …, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. Php 3:13 [GBN]

Another problem that I had was that of comparing myself to others. Seems that others were doing the same for Gal 5:26 puts it this way “That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original”. [MSG]

I can now move forward allowing God to fulfill His purpose for me, which is to make us like Jesus. Paul writes about this in Rom 8:29

“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son”. [MSG]

With the words of the Negro Spiritual, I can sing,

”Thank God I am free”…

Harvey Clarke…Feb, 2008