Come as you are

Dan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:30:33 +0000

I remember listening to Kurt Cobain singing “come as you are” in the 90′s. I also remember hearing dozens of churches latch on to this statement. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think people need to be all polished up before coming to Jesus, nor do I think folks need to dress up on Sunday mornings (I always wear jeans and a t-shirt). But I think “come as you are” sometimes gets interpreted as “you are acceptable just as you are,” and that’s simply not true.

I know that statement just raised red flags in a few readers’ minds, but hear me out. I absolutely think people should come to Jesus in whatever state they are currently in. After all, if people could get free from sin all by themselves why would they need Jesus? But people must also understand that outside of Christ they are completely unacceptable to God. Consider the following quote:

Truth be told, Christ has not welcomed you just the way you are. He has paid the dearest price of all in order to welcome you: sacrificing His life for you on the cross. Christ welcomed you through the anguish of His betrayal, trial, and death. He did not welcome you freely but in order to set you free from your sins! (LSB, p. 1907).

God is holy. The word holy literally means “set apart, consecrated.” Holiness is like light, and anything else is darkness. When light enters a room, darkness flees. God cannot coexist with evil, and apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ we are completely unacceptable to Him, we cannot come near Him. But Jesus Christ has created the way to the Father by taking our place on the cross, serving our death sentence. His righteousness gets credited to our account by faith and we thereby become acceptable to God.

Too many people have a view of justification that assumes God simply lets our sins slide. The problem is, “the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23), they must be paid for. Jesus pays for them at Calvary and now offers us eternal life as a gift, which is what the rest of Romans 6:23 says: “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So please come as you are, but know that you are entirely unacceptable to God apart from the righteousness that is imparted to you through a living faith in Jesus Christ.

Claim Your Prize!

Dan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:43:51 +0000

I read in the paper today that a Powerball ticket sold at a local shop for the Wednesday draw is worth $800,000 — but the winner has yet to claim the earnings. That’s pretty crazy. Someone is walking around with no idea that they have a ticket worth $800,000. The prize rightfully belongs to this individual, he or she simple hasn’t claimed it.

I wonder why it hasn’t been claimed? Perhaps this person has no clue they are the winner. Maybe they purchased the ticket as a gag gift for a friend, who had no intentions of checking the numbers. Maybe, just maybe, they lost the ticket! But all speculations aside, there is a powerful analogy to be drawn here.

Claiming the Prize
Far too many Christians live defeated lives because they don’t know who they are in Christ — they don’t understand their true identity as a child of the Most High God. That’s one of the reasons the Truth Sheets are available at 390days.com. We provide these truth sheets as a service to you for understanding how you are accepted, significant, and secure in Christ. If you haven’t already, be sure to check them out!

If you see yourself as a helpless victim of Satan’s schemes, you’ll probably continue to be a victim and live in bondage. But if you realize that you are a dearly loved and accepted child of God, you have a much better chance of living like one. Even though Jesus said we would live abundant lives now (John 10:10), too many of us go on living like eternal life is merely something we get when we physically die. In reality, we receive eternal life the moment we are born again! Much more than just forgiveness of your sins occurs when you enter into a relationship with Jesus — you become a new creation!

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

The New Testament refers to the person you were before you received Christ as your old self (old man). At salvation your old self died (Romans 6:6) and your new self was united with Christ and came to life (Galatians 2:20)! This chart helps make some sense with how we are now identified with Christ. You are identified with Him:

In His death	Romans 6:3 Galatians 2:20 Colossians 3:1-3
In His burial	Romans 6:4
In His resurrection	Romans 6:5,8,11
In His ascension	Ephesians 2:6
In His life	Romans 5:10,11
In His power	Ephesians 1:19,20
In His inheritance	Romans 8:16,17 Ephesians 1:11,12

Anderson, N.T. (2000). The Bondage Breaker. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.

For more Scripture passages regarding your identity in Christ, be sure to print out a Truth Sheet and read through it.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11, NIV)

Your behavior doesn’t determine your belief about yourself. Your belief about yourself determines your behavior. It is true whether or not you believe it, even if it doesn’t feel true. You might even be wondering, “What experience must I have in order for this to be true?” The only necessary experience is that of Christ on the cross, which has already happened; and the only way to appropriate that truth is to believe it. I’m not talking about positive thinking or pop-psychology here. I’m explaining the simple fact that every Scripture in the Truth Sheet is already true of you once you become a follower of Christ, even if you don’t believe it or aren’t yet aware of it. Just like the unclaimed lottery ticket, the value is not absent, simply unrealized. As long as we fail to realize who we are in Christ, we are bound to remain in bondage to Satan’s schemes.

Click here to customize your very own Truth Sheet so that you can begin to daily reflect on your identity in Christ. This is totally free and simple! Your name is only asked in order to provide you with a customized form, it is not electronically stored nor used for any purpose other than personalizing the page. It is my prayer that all believers begin to appropriate the truths of scripture in their daily lives and walk in freedom by the power of the Spirit!

prayeramedic.com » Acceptance

Come as you are

Claim Your Prize!