Mar 30, 2015 Words of Grace – Made Clean and Made New
“God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did.” Titus 3:4-6, NLT
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ provided for us the double blessing of being made clean and being made new.
Jesus died on the cross and was buried on a Friday. That death was in our place, to pay the penalty for our sins. By faith in him, we are forgiven. By being forgiven, we are made clean.
Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday. That resurrection was for our life. His resurrection was a deathblow to death, showing that death no longer had controlling power over sinners because the One who died for sins had now come to life. By faith in him, the sinners whose sins Jesus died for are given the same life that Jesus now has. By faith, we are made new.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are made visible to us every time a Christian is baptized. A Christian’s whole body is lowered into water as Jesus was put into the grave. The sins of this Christian are paid for and he is shown to be clean. A Christian is raised from the water as Jesus was raised from the dead. He is now shown to be raised with Jesus as a new person (Romans 6:1-12).
Made clean and made new! This is the message of Easter week at Grace Community Church. Let me encourage you to take full advantage of this week in these ways:
1. Read Romans 6:1-12 everyday. Read it from several Bible translations. As you read, keep looking for the cross and the resurrection. And keep asking how being made clean and made new changes your life in practical ways.
2. Pray for the Good Friday and Easter services at Grace, and at other churches in Nashville. Hundreds of churches will be talking about the cross and resurrection of Jesus this weekend. That’s powerful. Let’s pray for thousands of people to repent and believe.
3. Invite someone to Grace on Friday night and Sunday morning.
– Scott
PS: This morning I came across a free PDF of John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ (Fifty Reasons Why He Came To Die).” Enjoy.