A Free Gift

A Free Gift

What if I told you if your Bible sat on that little bookshelf in the corner of your room collecting dust for the rest of your life you'd still go to Heaven. You're probably thinking, “Woah! Woah! Hold up, Jacob. That's probably heresy.” Let me explain.

Remember when you were a kid and your dad would go on a business trip and then he'd bring you back a present? After he gave it to you did you have to ask for it? No way! It was already there. Salvation is the same way, when we ask for it, it's there. Plain and simple! After we get it, we don't have to earn it. Am I saying don't read your Bible? Definitely not! It offers so much revelation, and it is God's Word. Read it!

What I want to communicate is that we don't have to strive! Ever! We can't DO anything to earn love, to earn salvation, to earn forgive, to earn grace. It's just there. “Stop acting as though you can earn it, I don't love you because you deserve it, I love you because that's who I AM. Let. Love. Win”. There it is. He loves us, because He loves us.

So often as Christians we think back on the week, or month, or year and our thought process (at least mine is), “Well, I didn't read my Bible this past week (or month...or year..) my relationship with God isn't good.” or “Well, I sinned x-amount of times today. I'm just a sinner, and I don't really have a good relationship with God right now.” And to that I say, WHAT NO! If that was the truth we might as well be back in the Old Testament offering sacrifices up for our sins to in-turn EARN FORGIVENESS. Why do we put Jesus back on the cross when He already did it once and for all! Jesus died for your sins, and that wasn't just it! He became the eternal sacrifice! Jesus, GOD IN THE FLESH, is now a man forever. FOREVER. His sacrifice wasn't just once, but it is eternal. Crazy, I know!

I think the same analogy goes for forgiveness as I used before for salvation. We sin, we feel dirty, we beg God for forgiveness, “God, please forgive me, make me clean again.” Why is it every time I'm stuck in sin all the sudden people start giving me words from God like, “I just see purity all over you”. And usually my first thought is, “Crap, they must know I'm stuck in sin and they are doing that whole prophetic...say the opposite of what you see...speak life ...thing”. No! That's not really the case at all! God sees us, in all of our sin, exactly as that. Pure. Righteous. Holy. No matter if you're sleepin' around with your boy/girlfriend or not! (And I'm talking about while you're saved. YUP!) We can't earn righteousness! We can't earn purity. It just is. Why? Because of the cross. So lately God has been showing me to switch my mindset of forgiveness, instead of saying "God, please forgive me", I'm starting to say "God, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that I am PURE. And that sin, that's not me!" WHY? Because the cross was once and for all! He ALWAYS sees us as pure. Our robes of righteousness don't get dirty when we sin! They are always clean because HIS blood WAS AND IS the eternal sacrifice, and we CANNOT earn our righteousness. YOU ARE CLEAN. ALWAYS. 

Yesterday, I heard this little clip from a podcast that Adam Cox was speaking on, “What if I told you you'll never be more of a son or daughter than you are today”. There's so much truth packed into that one tiny sentence! Can I be more of a son to my dad? NO! When I was born I was made his son for my whole life. I can't be more of a son or less of a son. It's just who I am, it's in my blood. We may get greater revelation of our sonship over time but that definitely doesn't make us more of less of a son/daughter. We are, because we are. Sin or no sin.

I hope more than anything this is freeing, to know that grace is always there and there's no such thing as "grace giving you a license to sin", that there is no such thing as "cheap grace". Why? Because grace is NOTHING but freeing and it does NOTHING but make us feel clean, and SIN IS NOT BIGGER THAN GRACE, OR FORGIVENESS! :) Don't put Jesus make on the cross when He has risen. 

I pray this blog was freeing and maybe caused you to be set free of the chains of the old mindset of sin that tries to weigh you down. The gospel...it's a happy deal. 

The end.