Brother or sister in the Lord,

So you’ve experienced the conviction of the Spirit?  Praise God that His Spirit is alive in you and you are listening.

So you’ve heard His voice of truth through His Word and people?  Praise the Good Shepherd for He continues to pursue us to lead us along the right and life-giving path.

So you’ve found yourself beginning to repent and turn away from a sin that has entangled your heart and life?  Glory to God for that is evidence of the Spirit in you, for if you were ruled by the flesh, you’d simply continue in sin.

So the darkness of your heart has been exposed to His light?  Praise the Father, who loves you enough to not let you remain in your slavery to sin.

I want to encourage you with some truth from the Word.  These are not the only passages to meditate on, and I’d encourage you to read the surrounding verses and context of these below.  But I do pray that this truth may encourage you to continue to walk in the salvation and freedom that is found only in Christ.

 

Psalm 103:3-4, 8-12 – Our Father In Heaven Is So Good And Perfect

³ He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. ⁴ He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion…⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. ⁹ He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. ¹² As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 

Ezekiel 36:26 – Changed From The Inside Out

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

 

John 10:10 – Jesus’ Mission Is Life

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

 

John 19:30 – It Is Finished

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

 

Romans 8:1-2 – No Condemnation

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, ² because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

 

Romans 12:1-2 – All Of Life Is Worship

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.  ² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

 

1 Corinthians 6:11 – You Used To Be Like This…BUT

And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 – New Creation in Christ

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! ¹⁸ Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. ¹⁹ That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” ²¹ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

2 Corinthians 7:10 – Pursue Godly Grief

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. 

 

Galatians 5:16-17 – Walk By The Spirit

¹⁶ I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

 

Ephesians 3:20-21 – He Is Able

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

Ephesians 4:17-24 – Put Off, Put On

¹⁷ Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. ²⁰ But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹ assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³ to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

 

Philippians 1:6 – He Is Faithful

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

Colossians 3:1-4 – New Heavenly Identity

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 

2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee, Pursue, Along With

Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Lay Aside Every Hindrance

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, ² keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

James 1:13-15 – Understand Sin’s Beginning And Ending

¹³ No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. ¹⁵Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

 

James 4:6-8 – Pursue Humility

⁶ But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. ⁷ Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 

James 5:15-16 – Confess And Pray With Fellow Believers

¹⁵ The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

 

1 Peter 3:18, 4:1-5 – Finished With Sin

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit… Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin— ² in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. ³ For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living—and they slander you. ⁵ They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

 

1 John 2:1-2 – Jesus, The Righteous One, Is Our Advocate

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. ² He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.