Eat and drink free of guilt

Isaiah 55:1-3

You sit here receiving bread and wine by grace alone. We could say it is because you had the wisdom to believe in Christ. We could say it is because you haven’t fallen into unrepentant sin that calls for church discipline. But those things are true because God made them true, not you. God is sovereign over your faith, and over your obedience. So praise Him, thank Him, give Him all the glory for redeeming you.

We preach and teach grace here. We do not use guilt trips to exploit or manipulate you into doing what we want. If you trust Christ to remove your guilt from God’s sight, then you are a free child of God. Yes, you continue to sin, but the Spirit is working in your heart to fight sin. As you sit here considering Christ’s great sacrifice and your great sin, we need to get to freedom. Yes, it was an awful price to pay, Christ’s crucifixion. But He paid it, and He doesn’t want your guilt trip, He wants your gratitude. God no longer cares about your sin. Thank Him for that. He has thrown it in the sea, never to be remembered again. He has dealt with it. So God doesn’t care what you did. If you’re clinging to sin secretly He cares. But if you’re confessing and fighting it, He has already forgiven you. He doesn’t hold it against you, keep you at a distance, until He sees how you turn out. He already knows and sees you among His eternal saints. You are His beloved child. He wants you to see His glory and His grace here at His table. Come, and eat and drink freely.


10/31/10