A Bible Devotion : Jesus came to save sinners

1 TIMOTHY 1:15 NLT
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.
Jesus came into the world to save sinners: not to leave us as sinners, but to deliver us from being sinners. (The word save means to deliver.)

MATTHEW 1:21 NLT
21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Sin is our problem. Sin has been destroying us and we did not even realize it. Jesus came to save us from our sins, not to save us from God. God is not our problem -- sin is. God is our answer.

JOHN 8:34,36 NLT
34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

God's ways are good and benefit us. Rebelling against God and choosing to sin (which is doing selfish acts that harm someone) is always (eventually) harmful.

God's grace does not mean "just allowing us to do wrong without any consequences." Grace is something freely given without regard to whether we deserve it, but it should change us, making us better than we were before.

God gives us the gift of righteousness and imparts His life into us. God's life, when yielded to, gives us ability to walk in light, life, and love. In other words, God's grace gives us the ability and the desire to overcome sin and satan instead of being imprisoned by them and forced to obey them.

The Old Covenant gave laws against sin, but did not change people's hearts. With the New Covenant comes a new birth of the inner person changing our desires. That enables us to be able to walk free from sin's bondage, as we choose to live from our heart.

Fortunately our Father is merciful and patient, so even when you do sin, you are not rejected and thrown out. You can always receive forgiveness and start over with a clean slate from God (although natural consequences may still be there).

1 JOHN 1:9 NLT
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

God will never quit loving you. He loves you right now -- just the way you are. But God loves you too much to leave you the way you are. His plan is not to leave you in sin's bondage but to make you free.

SAY THIS: Jesus is able to set me free from the bondage of sin.

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