Treasured Truth

Being delivered from our sin is directly related to the closeness of our relationship with Jesus.  Knowing Jesus more closely makes us more aware of our sin.  And as our sensitivity to sin increases, which is evidence of our maturity, then our activity of sin ought to decrease.  In other words, the more we fellowship with Jesus, the less we will sin.

As we continue to look at Romans 6 to discover how we can be delivered from our sin, Pastor Ford wants us to understand that we need the power that comes from being in Christ to be able to overcome the things that are overcoming us.

When we are seeking a way to be delivered from our sin, Pastor Ford points us to the writings of the Apostle Paul in Romans.  In Romans 6 Paul says, “Who the Son sets free is free indeed.” Now what is Paul’s point, exactly?  He’s saying to us, “Listen, you need to know that you have to die to your sin in order to live.”  Freedom in Christ comes after dying to self.

Believers who backslide don’t need our judgment.  What they really need is our love.  And love doesn’t expose sin.  Love covers it.  And we need to understand that’s what people need. In Luke 22:31, Jesus told Peter, “You’re going to fall and you’re going to backslide, but because I prayed for you, don’t you worry about it—I’ve got you covered!”

When we realize that rumors that are being spread about a certain person or situation, Pastor Ford encourages us to hold the person spreading the rumors accountable.  It’s one of the best ways to stop the mess that rumors create.  He says we should squelch the rumors before they cause problems in the body of Christ.

Do you know anyone who could be considered a “backslider”?  If so, what have done about them?  Pastor Ford asks us today, “Who have you gone and snatched back from the Devil—someone who really belongs to God?” He suggests that instead of saying, ‘Well, the Devil’s got them now…” We should go get them!  Because they don’t belong to Satan, they belong to God!

There are those of us who are such self-righteous Pharisees, that whenever somebody falls, instead of picking them up, we step on them.  Instead of picking them up, we talk about them.  Instead of picking them up, we disregard them and hate on them.  Today, Pastor Ford will let us know how to avoid being one of those types of self-righteous believers.

God is the ultimate promise keeper.  His promises are guaranteed.  When we truly understand God’s covenants, then we’ll understand that He will never change His view of us.  Because if He did, then He would have to change His view of Jesus Christ, which is something we can be sure He will never do.

We can be completely confident in the fact that God’s promises are true and everlasting.  They are irretrievable, irreversible, irrefutable covenants.  If men can make contracts that are legally binding and that cannot be broken, then how much more is God able to carry out and fulfill all that He has promised to do?

Sometimes we just need someone who will tell us like it is. We need someone who will just get up in our face and tell us stuff, especially the hard stuff that we don’t want to hear or even talk about.  On today’s Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will tell us about the man who did this for him and discipled him when he first became a follower of Christ.