His invitation to the fallen:
His promise to the guilty, and broken-hearted over their sins:
“If you feel yourself to be the
greatest sinner, Christ is just what you need, the greatest Saviour.” Mind
Character and Personality, book 2, p.452.2
The feeling of “guilt”, synonymous with shame, regret, self-reproach. It is this feeling of guilt that robs
many of an abiding peace. It is the cause of anxiety and disbelief in the
willingness of God to accept sinners.
But this need not be the case, because it is just such who Christ invites,
and even offers freedom and liberation from the burden of past faults and
shortcomings.
“Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. “ Isa.
1:18.
His invite is to the scarlet stained sinner. This man not
only receives sinners, but He invites them, that He may pardon and empower them
with the whiteness of a righteous life.
“Jesus loves to have us come to
Him just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our
weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is
His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to
cleanse us from all impurity.” Steps to Christ p.52.2
Jesus wants you to come to Him, as sinful and broken as you
are, with the confidence that He loves you too much to leave you that way. It
is His glory to bind up the wounds from the defeat against sin and satan.
“The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Ps. 51:17
“Therefore if any man [be] in
Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. “ 2 Corinthians 5:17
The former things are passed away. The record of past
wrongs, the burden of past faults and of sins which once plagued the heart and
brought grief and shame, all these are passed away and we may stand before God
as new creatures, presented “faultless before the presence of His glory, with
exceeding joy.” Jude 24
“The LORD [is] merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide:
neither will he keep [his anger] for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our
sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high
above the earth, [so] great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as
the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from
us.” Psalms 103:9-12
East and West are infinitely far apart from one another, and
when one comes to God, with sincere confession of all transgressions, this is
how far He removes them. This is not only in the case of the record of the
guilt, but Jesus desires to expel the very sin itself from the heart.
Note His promise:
“This [is] the covenant (agreement/promise) that I will make with
them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more.” Hebrews 10:16-17
When we come to Christ, in confession of ones faults, we may
be assured that God consciously forgets our sins and iniquities. Though they
may remain fresh in the minds of men, in the mind of God they have no presence.
And more than no longer remembering our sins, God writes His law in the very
heart, thus enabling one to walk in the path of righteousness, the path of
right doing.
Have you any guilt? Be of good cheer, It is for you that
Christ has died.
“This feeling of guiltiness must
be laid at the foot of the cross of Calvary. The sense of sinfulness has
poisoned the springs of life and true happiness. Now Jesus says, Lay it all on Me;
I will take your sin, I will give you peace. Destroy no longer your
self-respect, for I have bought you with the price of My own blood. You are
Mine; your weakened will I will strengthen; your remorse for sin I will
remove. Mind, Character and Personality,
book 2 451.2
In Jesus, there is freedom from shame and guilt.
