| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “You are loved” Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 (CSB) Our thought for today: “You are loved and forgiven” The Biblical doctrine of justification means that God forgives, pardons, and accepts sinners who have placed their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Psalm 103:1 tells us that God separates our sins as far as the east is from the west and He remembers them no more. Hebrews 8:12 says He forgives our sins and chooses to forget them. He says it again in Hebrews 10:17. God does this because He loves us. He wants us to be in heaven with Him; He created the way in which that could happen; and once you have chosen that way, once you have given your sins to Jesus and accepted God’s forgiveness, you are free from those sins for all eternity – but also now. In other words, you are not to continue living under the burden of sins that have already been forgiven by God. Unfortunately, too many of us allow our lives to be shaped by the guilt and regret of past sins. And worse, many of us live as if we still have to earn God’s love and forgiveness. We live with a driving sense of having to do stuff to please God. However, it just isn’t so. While it is good and right to serve God and others out of your deep love for Him, don’t do it because you feel you have to or because you think you are somehow earning additional favor from God because of it. In his excellent Bible study, “The Search for Significance” Robert McGee writes, “You can do nothing to add to or to take away from what Christ did for you on the cross. Although you may try to justify yourself by doing good deeds to show God that you deserve justification, it is a vain attempt to gain what you already have.” “It is a vain attempt to gain what you already have.” You are already forgiven. Not only that, but God already loves you as fully as it is possible to be loved. And you are already pleasing and fully acceptable to Him because you come to Him in the name of, and through the atoning work of, His Son and our perfect Savior Jesus. I encourage you to let go of the burden of guilt and regret. Embrace the love and acceptance of your heavenly Father. Stop working so hard to gain what you already have. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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Oak Hill Baptist Church 
Amen and much needed, good word!