Opinion: Kelly Williams<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we enter the Easter season and look to Holy Week, we want to center our attention on the significance of Christ\u2019s work of redemption for all of humanity. The Apostle Paul did the same thing for the church at Corinth in the first century. He reminded them of these three words, \u201cJesus became sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These three words changed the course of history and not only history but eternity for all who believe in Jesus Christ\u2019s sacrificial work on the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul said this to the Corinthian church about Jesus: \u201cFor our sake he made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God the Father made Jesus to be sin. The One who knew no sin, became sin. I can\u2019t imagine living 33 years on this earth without sin. Can you? I can\u2019t even imagine living 33 minutes without sin. You and I do not possess this capacity for sinless living. But the one who did, Jesus, chose to give that up for you and me. That thought overwhelms me with hope, peace, joy, and floods me with the love of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me ask you this: do you owe a debt to Jesus that you can\u2019t pay? The answer is yes! You have a sin debt you can\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apostle Paul told the Romans in Romans 6:23, \u201cThe wages of sin is death.\u201d The penalty for your sin is eternal death. That\u2019s the bad news. The good news is Jesus paid it on your behalf and offers you that free gift of eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus paid a debt he didn\u2019t owe, so we might live forever with Him. You and I have been bought with a price, the price of Jesus blood on the cross. But the question is, \u201cWill we glorify God with our lives?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Through Jesus, you get to become what you could have never become apart from Him. He became sin so you could become righteous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does it mean to be righteous? It means to be seen as holy in God\u2019s presence because of Christ\u2019s sacrifice for you and your acceptance of that sacrifice for your sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no better news!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10: \u201cIf you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a pastor, I have watched so many people who claim the name of Jesus waste the grace of Jesus by returning to a life of disbelief and unconfessed sin. This great gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ becomes vain in their lives. The Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:1: \u201cWorking together with Him (Jesus), then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you wasting the miraculous righteous work of Christ in your life because you have returned to your sin and refuse to talk to Jesus about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe you are like me. You get tired of talking to Jesus about the same old sins in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Jesus became sin so you could talk to Him confidently, continually, and consistently about how He can transform you daily. Jesus never tires of you talking to Him about your sin. Remember that Jesus knows your sin already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John the Beloved said in 1 John 1:9, \u201cIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you fatigued by your own sinful self? Have you stopped believing God\u2019s promise that He gives grace to the humble who confess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can I remind you of the three words that changed history and eternity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus became sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the practical reality is that He became your<\/em> sin. Don\u2019t let this precious truth escape your mind this Eastertide. Meditate on it daily. And when you fail, confess your sins to Him. He has already forgiven you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Author: Kelly Williams, is co-founder and senior pastor of\u00a0Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.\u00a0 His books include:\u00a0The Good Pastor, The Mystery of 23,\u00a0Friend of Sinners\u00a0and\u00a0Real Marriage. He also\u00a0maintains a blog. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Opinion: Kelly Williams As we enter the Easter season and look to Holy Week, we want to center our attention on the significance of Christ\u2019s work of redemption for all of humanity. The Apostle Paul did the same thing for the church at Corinth in the first century. He reminded them of these three words,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[119,110,963,200],"coauthors":[921],"class_list":{"0":"post-11673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinion","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-christianity","10":"tag-easter","11":"tag-god"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11675,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11673\/revisions\/11675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11673"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}