"And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
And I said: Lord, how is it done?
And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole."
Enos 1:5-8
It's interesting here how faith and forgiveness are tied together. We have to have faith in Christ's ability to forgive us and be willing to accept that blessing in our lives in order for it to have power in our lives. And the statement that faith makes us whole is repeated many times in the New Testament when Christ is healing people physically, so it is kind of cool that forgiveness is just like spiritual healing.
That's a much different perspective than the way we often look at sin. Sometimes we see it as something forbidden but not actually harmful... just rules to hold us back. I think that this makes it clearer that sin is toxic, and harms us when we engage in it. Like drinking poison. And sure, we can mask the flavor, but the poison is still there, slowly eating us away. And only Christ can save us from that self-imposed death sentence.
Today, let's pray for forgiveness, and let's have faith. ... Faith enough to be healed of our sin, and also enough faith to adhere to God's guidelines and stop poisoning ourselves.
And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
And I said: Lord, how is it done?
And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole."
Enos 1:5-8
It's interesting here how faith and forgiveness are tied together. We have to have faith in Christ's ability to forgive us and be willing to accept that blessing in our lives in order for it to have power in our lives. And the statement that faith makes us whole is repeated many times in the New Testament when Christ is healing people physically, so it is kind of cool that forgiveness is just like spiritual healing.
That's a much different perspective than the way we often look at sin. Sometimes we see it as something forbidden but not actually harmful... just rules to hold us back. I think that this makes it clearer that sin is toxic, and harms us when we engage in it. Like drinking poison. And sure, we can mask the flavor, but the poison is still there, slowly eating us away. And only Christ can save us from that self-imposed death sentence.
Today, let's pray for forgiveness, and let's have faith. ... Faith enough to be healed of our sin, and also enough faith to adhere to God's guidelines and stop poisoning ourselves.
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