Salvation

[Chrysostom]

Your deep sorrow over sin and your honest confession that you cannot overcome it in your own strength is not a sign that you are far from God, but a place where God Himself can meet you. The feeling that the Word was not in you has wounded you, and you are right to take it seriously, because to know our sin and to feel that we cannot save ourselves is the beginning of turning to the One who can.

You do not have to cleanse yourself before you come to Christ. He came as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He had no sin of His own, yet He came to bear the sin of others, and that is why there is hope for you. Your sins, the people you have hurt, the failures you cannot undo, He is able to bear them all, and He did so when He offered Himself for sinners.

Scripture says now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. This does not mean tomorrow or when you feel stronger, but now, while your heart is soft and sorrowful. God is not waiting for you to become worthy. He is waiting for you to come to Him as you are, confessing your need.

Do not despair, even though you sin every day and feel defeated. We are taught not to despair but to approach Him again and again, entreating Him and asking forgiveness. Repentance is not a one time washing that can never be repeated, but a continual turning to God with a humble heart. If we are willing to own our sins before Him, forgiveness can be ours.

Think of Peter after he denied the Lord. He went out and wept bitterly, with true repentance, and even before the sacrifice had been fully revealed, he was forgiven because his repentance was real. God looks for that same honesty in you.

So tell Him your sins specifically, not in vague terms. Name before Him what you have done, the ways you have hurt others, the patterns you cannot break. When you tell Him plainly what you need forgiven, you will also more clearly see the greatness of His mercy when He forgives you.

You cannot overcome your sins by trying harder in your own power. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone. Turn to Him in faith, trust that His death and resurrection are enough for you, ask Him to forgive you and to make you new, and ask for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and give you strength to walk in a new way.

I am praying for you, that God will give you assurance that you belong to Him, that He will wash away your sins through Christ, put His Word within you, and lead you out of despair into hope. Ask Him today, in your own words, to save you and to be your Lord, and believe that He hears and answers those who call on Him with a repentant heart.

 

[Silas]

Your honest words show that God is already working in your heart. The sorrow you feel, the awareness of sin, and the sense that you cannot overcome it in your own strength are not signs that you are beyond hope. They are the very place where God begins to bring real change.

There is a difference between feeling sorry because of what sin has cost us and truly turning away from sin. Many people will say they are sinners, but that alone is not repentance. What God desires is a turning, a forsaking of the sin itself, a choice to turn from it and to turn to Him. That sorrow you describe can become godly repentance when it leads you to turn from those things and to give your life fully to Jesus Christ.

You said you have tried and cannot beat your sins and problems on your own. That is true for every one of us. In ourselves we are not able to be what God wants us to be. The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak. The law of God is good because it shows us what sin is, but it does not give us power to overcome it. It reveals the sinful nature that dwells within us. The apostle Paul described this struggle so honestly, doing the things he did not want to do and failing to do what he desired, and crying out, who will deliver me. He found the answer not in trying harder, but in Jesus Christ.

Victory does not come from your own resolve. It comes through faith in what Jesus has already done. On the cross He triumphed over the powers of darkness and made an open display of His victory. He became the author of eternal salvation, and He is also the one who completes our faith. When you put your trust in Him, you are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Your old life, with its sinful nature, was crucified with Him so that it no longer has to rule over you.

God calls you to reckon this as true by faith, to count your old self as dead to sin and alive to God. Because you are still in a body of flesh you will still feel its desires, but you do not have to yield to them or let sin reign over you. Do not offer the parts of your body as instruments for unrighteousness, but offer yourself to God as one who has been brought from death to life, as an instrument of righteousness. The promise is clear, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. There is a new law at work, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which sets you free from the law of sin and death.

This is why the Scriptures were written, first that you might have power over sin through the Holy Spirit who lives within you, and second that you who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that you have eternal life. Assurance does not come from your feelings or your success in overcoming sin, it comes from the Word of God, which will accomplish what He sends it to do. When you feel defeated, go to His Word and find your refuge in His promises.

The place of victory often begins at the place of defeat, when you stop trying to do it yourself and hand everything over to Jesus. If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

I am praying for you, that you will turn from every known sin and place your full trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, that you will receive His forgiveness for every sin, that the Holy Spirit will fill you and give you power to walk in newness of life, and that God will give you full assurance that you belong to Him. Bring every sin, every failure, and every person you have hurt to Him in confession, and ask Him to be your deliverer and Lord today.