In With The Good. Out With The Bad

1 Timothy 1:12-16

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him,13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.?15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life."

Paul was the worst for a reason. So that we don't have that excuse.

Lies We Believe

Paul's salvation is that much more powerful because it shows us that we no longer have the excuse of Self-pity, without the excuse of 'I’ve gone too far', and 'God certainly cannot forgive me'.

A lot of the bible is built out to show you that, those beliefs are a lie.

Moses killed a guy with his bare hands. But he was chosen to lead His people out of Egypt and into the promise land

David, the man after God’s own heart. Took advantage of a women who was cleansing her self during ceremonial ritual. Sleeps with her and then gives orders to make sure that her husband dies in battle. That's the man after God’s own heart.

The bible attacks the idea that we are not good enough; that we sinned too much; that we are the one that took it too far.

Titus 3:4-7

4 But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”

We’re saved this way, says Titus 3:4–7:

According to God’s mercy
By the washing of regeneration
By the renewal of the Holy Spirit who is poured out on us through Jesus
We are justified by grace
We’re made heirs
We’re given hope of eternal life

Nothing on that list involves us doing anything. Our salvation is a gift from God.

"God’s covenant with us is his to keep and uphold"

In with the Good

Before we are able to fully release the bad, before we are bale to fully find peace in life. Followers of Jesus have to find Christ as their hope, find Christ as their peace, find Christ as there all.

Out with the Bad

The Devil will try and attack us. He is crafty. He knows our weaknesses and he knows how to exploit them. So we must chose daily to reject the thoughts of the enemy, to reject the the lies that we have gone too far. We must choose to live life knowing that we are children of light and not of darkness. Giving Jesus all of our hurt, all of our pain, and trusting in Him to make us whole.

Chris Long, 09/02/2012