"The burning passion that sin ignites is never to be satisfied, but Jesus Christ takes all of that--my guilt, my failure--so that I might be made the righteousness of God. That's the great exchange.
"I get His righteousness, His acceptance before God and I'm in the Beloved. I be loved and I be loved because He made me so, and on my worst day or on my best day, when I'm not lovable in myself, or when I thought I was and 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,' I have a real acceptance," explains Richard Jordan.
"To be guilty is one thing, but not to settle the issue . . . Psychology can't do that. They pull it out, you know, and wear it as a medal around your chest: 'I confess my sin.' It doesn't resolve guilt; it's still there, but Jesus paid it all. He took care of it and gave me His righteousness.
"You get a sense of being trapped by your sins; enslaved by them, hemmed in. But in Ephesians 1:7 he says, [7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
"That word 'redemption' means to pay the price and set it free. It's really freedom. You're liberated from the control of sin. It means you don't have to sin anymore. You don't have to have that irritable spirit, that nasty disposition, that lustful eye, you know, envious, jealous. You don't have to do that; you're free in Christ from all of those entaglements. Christ died to set you free. He died to MAKE your free.
"There's a great song Down South we used to sing: 'He set me free, He set me free, He broke the bonds of prison for me.' But somebody pointed out to me one time that the Bible doesn't say that. It says He MADE me free. He made me a free person. He didn't just take me and set me free; He completely transformed me into someone who's free.
Romans 6: [17] But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. [18] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
"That's what redemption is. Look, be strong in THESE things! Don't try to go out and be strong in, 'I gave money to the church, I passed out tracts.' Don't try to be strong in what you do because it always comes up short--'cut off my legs and call me Shorty.'
"What He did always answers it. He says in verse 7 we have 'forgiveness according to the riches of his grace.' Say what you will, sin haunts us. We need peace. The anger, the hurt that comes from sin. The hurt that comes from hurting others and be hurt by it.
"To know what it is to be forgiven allows you to forgive. You'll never be able to forgive until you understand how it is to be forgiven. The entaglements of sin. He says, 'I give you freedom.' The word 'forgive' means to send it away. But where do you send it? The only place you can send it where it's dealt with completely is the Cross.
"You send it into the vacuum of your memory but you know what happens? It belches back up at inconvenient times and it haunts you and you wind up hearing its footsteps. He says, 'I can show you a way to peace,' because that's what we want.
"You don't have to be angry anymore, at war with the world, or your neighbor, or your family, or yourself. He paid the penalty. The war's over and we have peace with God and when you have peace with God you can have peace with everyone else through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(new article tomorrow)
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