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The Power of Self Esteem: Bible Proof     For all their lives, the Israelites had been slaves. Their parents had been slaves. Their grandparents had been slaves. Their great-grandparents had been slaves . . . (Genesis 15:13). Yet, even beyond being the lowest of the low, they had been so despised and oppressed that they had been forced to keep killing every baby boy they gave birth to (Exodus 1:15-16,22). Finally, they fled – with an enraged Egyptian army hot on their tail.   Now they were runaway slaves; a rabble of homeless refugees with a price on their heads; forced to wander in the wilderness with not even the basic food and water they had had as slaves (Exodus 15:22-23; Numbers 11:5-6).   They could have chosen to see themselves as God’s special people; amazingly delivered from a powerful, now-defeated army; miraculously led and fed by Almighty God and divinely prepared and trained to be victors. Instead, they languished in their former self-image; choosing to believe their past rather than what the God of truth declared them to be now:   Exodus 19:5-6  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. . . . you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.   Deuteronomy 7:6  For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.   Deuteronomy 26:19  He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.   Deuteronomy 28:7  The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.   Leviticus 26:7-8  You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.   Rather than believe what God said they were, they projected their feelings of inferiority onto what they imagined was going on inside the minds of those God’s enemies; mistakenly imagining everyone saw the Israelites the way the Israelites saw themselves. “They are giants and we are like grasshoppers to them,” they claimed (Numbers 13:32-33).   Preferring to believe God’s enemies rather than God himself would be atrocious enough but, appallingly, even the ungodly had a more godly view of God’s chosen people than God’s chosen had of themselves. Even after God’s disobedient people had suffered a humiliating military defeat (Numbers 14:44-45), these pagans not only did not see the Israelites as “grasshoppers,” one of them (Rahab) confessed, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:9-11).   A self-image that does not line up with spiritual truth is such a dangerous delusion that it distorts our perception of everything.   Their atrocious self-esteem was not humility but a gross insult to the Holy Lord who had redeemed them and believed in them and dwelt with them. Their self-image incited not sympathy but God’s dismay as they refused to believe that with God they could achieve what he said they could achieve. As a direct result, they ended up wandering homeless for forty long years until that entire generation died in the dusty desert (Numbers 14:29-35), except for two men (Numbers 14:24,38; Numbers 32:11-12). “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it,” said Caleb, but the others replied, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:30-31). Joshua and Caleb, the two who were spared, had the same past and current circumstances as the others but they refused to be dominated by their past, nor by put-downs, nor by what everyone else said, and by so doing they glorified God and won for themselves eternal glory.   It is exceedingly difficult to believe God when it is totally contrary to everything our past experience and mindsets keep screaming at us, but it still remains our choice. Not believing God has disastrous consequences, and the bigger the difference between what we believe about ourselves and what God believes about ourselves, the more critical it is that we force ourselves to believe God who is always right.   Back to How to Change Your Self-Image & Boost Self-Esteem

Examples of Jesus’ Self-Image   Luke 11:31  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.   John 13:13  You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.   John 15:20  Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’   Mark 14:61-62   . . . Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”   John 6:35   . . . I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.   John 10:14  I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.   Examples of Paul’s Self-Image   Galatians 2:11  When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.   Philippians 4:13  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.   1 Corinthians 9:15  But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.   2 Corinthians 1:12  Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.   2 Corinthians 10:8  For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.   2 Corinthians 11:9-12,22-23  And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone . . . As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! . . . And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. . . .   2 Corinthians 13:2-3  I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. . . .   Back

Faith is Our Responsibility   God holds us accountable for how much we believe   Matthew 6:30   . . . will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 8:5-10  When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. . . . When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. Matthew 8:26  He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Matthew 14:31  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 15:28  Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 16:8-9  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Mark 6:6  And he was amazed at their lack of faith. . . . Mark 16:14  Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Luke 24:25  He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Luke 24:38  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? John 20:27  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Hebrews 3:12  See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart . . . Back

Condemned by the Bible?     Afraid of God’s Word   In the previous webpage,  Supernaturally Confirmed Unforgivable or Damned by dreams, Visions & Miracles: When Supernatural Signs Contradict Biblical Truth , we investigated some of the implications of Almighty God having supernatural enemies who will do their utmost to cheat us out of enjoying the salvation that is freely available to us through Jesus. We noted that one of their tactics is to try to dupe us into believing oppressively strong and convincing feelings of anxiety and condemnation; tempting us to believe our feelings rather than keep clinging to faith in God’s promise to freely forgive all who seek it through Jesus.   These spiritual enemies have other insidious tricks to undermine our faith in God’s promise to cleanse us from  all  sin. The one we examined in depth in the previous webpage was their use of lying dreams, visions and miraculous signs suggesting that we are damned, unforgivable, apostate or whatever.   Now it is time to explore yet another common tactic they use with evil cunning: seeking to distort our interpretation of God’s Word; maliciously twisting into a source of torment what our loving Lord intended to be for our comfort and encouragement. In the previous webpage we noted in passing how when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, the Evil One actually quoted the Bible in an attempt to confuse and deceive the Son of God, and Jesus’ response was simply to quote another Scripture.   Let’s commence our counterattack by exploring the primary factor that makes us vulnerable to misinterpreting various parts of Scripture.   Bible scholars make much of the fact that for correct understanding of the Bible one must understand the culture of the hearers, the historical context, the nuances of the original language, and so on. This is undeniably true for any document but what is even more critical in discovering the real meaning of any communication is to thoroughly know the heart of the writer/speaker.   For example, some people continually insult their friends and yet mean none of it. It is simply their sense of humor and they actually have a heart of gold and are filled with love and respect for those they seem to keep slandering. Some people might find this unbelievable, but it is true and you have probably met people who jest like this. Some have a twinkle in their eye when they dish out slanderous insults – thus making their real feelings more obvious – and some don’t.   For another example: some people needlessly panic and are hypochondriacs or alarmists, whereas if certain other people reveal the slightest hint of concern, it needs to be taken very seriously.   A mind-boggling array of other characteristics must be correctly discerned in a person before we can have any certainty of understanding his words. How intelligent is he? How patient? How selfish? Is he usually focused on long term goals or just the short term? Is he given to plain speaking or does he sometimes speak in riddles? Is he prone to saying no when he actually expects his hearers to realize he is simply being coy or testing them and secretly hopes they will realize he actually means yes? Does he usually seek to undermine people or to build them up? How much does he change his way of speaking according to the audience he is addressing? What if we are far more sensitive than the people he is addressing? On and on we could go, listing the vast number of character traits we must understand about a person before we can be sure we have correctly understood his words. Unless we thoroughly know a person, it is disturbingly easy to grossly misunderstand his words and actions. In short, to understand the Word of God, we must understand the heart of God.   For this reason, we must give top priority to understanding God’s heart. We need to take very seriously the Bible’s affirmation that God is good, patient, kind, loving wise, and so forgiving that Jesus was tortured to death to secure the forgiveness of those whose hateful sins crucified him. Everything in Scripture must be read from this perspective or we are likely to grossly misinterpret various scriptures and end up needlessly upset.   Suppose you had to spend every moment of the day and night alone with a stranger for a week and you were told confidentially that the person is a violent beast of a man – sadistic, deceitful, irrational and unpredictable. Your fear and suspicion would affect your interpretation of everything he says and does, and of every creak and sound you hear in the dead of night. You probably would never get close enough to him to discover that all you were told about him was a pack of lies.   If, on the other hand, you had been told this man thinks highly of you and is warm, kind-hearted, trustworthy and the best friend you could ever find, you would see everything he says and does in a totally different light and would get much closer to him and discover far more about who he really is.   This reflects the dilemma plaguing those who come to the Bible terrorized by the fear that God is angry with them and that he is harsh, cruel, demanding and longs to throw people into hell. Their fear and suspicion will distort their interpretation of every Bible passage they read; preventing them from seeing the Lord as the warm, loving, forgiving, kind-hearted person he really is. The only way of breaking this impasse is to keep doggedly reminding oneself of all the Scriptures affirming God’s love, goodness, eagerness to forgive, and so on, and keep working on reading God’s Word from this perspective.   I will help you with that in a moment but first I should point out that evil loves exploiting every natural weakness it finds. The two most common natural reasons for people being needlessly afraid of God are:   1.     Having been starved of unconditional love as a child   In order to grow up psychologically healthy, every child has a desperate need to be continually nurtured by unconditional love. Being brought up by cold, demanding parents who unwittingly cause their child to feel insecure and unloved unless they perform, can leave emotional wounds that can last a lifetime unless deep healing is found. Being brought up in this way distorts one’s expectations of other key people in one’s life, including one’s image of God. For help with this, here are two links (that lead to still more links), but please first record the web address of this webpage so you can later return and complete this important series.   Changing Your Self-Imagine   How Much does God Love Me? Receiving a Personal Revelation of God’s Love for You   2.     Suffering from an anxiety disorder   Being afflicted by an often-undiagnosed medical condition that produces excess anxiety is the second most common natural reason for people being needlessly afraid of God. To understand how this causes people to keep doubting God’s love and acceptance and wrongly feel that God must be angry with them, first record the web address of this webpage so you can later return and complete this important series, then see  Scrupulosity: Continually Feeling Guilty & Unforgivable .     Dark forces are continually trying to mess with our minds and blacken God’s name. God’s solution is not to silence the lies but to let us choose whether we will believe them or believe in the love and integrity of God. The Lord longs for us to stubbornly cling to the truth about him, even if everything within and without seems to scream that it cannot be true. That is what faith is all about, and faith has always been God’s way and always will be. Faith is not absence of doubt but doggedly holding on despite overwhelming torrents of doubt.   Even when every force opposed to God keeps screaming that it cannot be true, the following is the truth about God that we must keep clinging to like a barnacle’s grip on a rock in a terrifyingly stormy sea.   As the world’s oceans exceed a raindrop, the Lord of lords exceeds your wildest dreams. He is everything good you have ever dared hope for, and infinitely more.   The most stunningly beautiful, exciting, fascinating and adorable person in the entire universe is so head-over-heels in love with you that he willingly endured a torturous death just so he could be your best friend, enjoy your companionship and pour all his inexhaustible riches on you for all eternity.   Much that passes for romantic love is selfish and fickle but true love is utterly selfless and endlessly faithful. Love is blind. It overlooks a person’s faults because it keeps seeing the best in a person. It keeps believing in the person and keeps on giving and giving and giving and forgiving and forgiving and forgiving. And since God’s love is infinite, everything he does is driven by incomprehensibly stupendous love.   It might be beyond your ability to sense it but the Lord loves you so totally that no one could be more devoted to anyone than he is to you. He loves with  all  his heart. This makes it impossible for him to love anyone more than he loves you. There could not possibly be any greater love than how he already feels for you. He could not love you more if you were his only friend in a bleak and lonely universe; if you were perfect in every possible way; if you were the most exquisitely beautiful person ever to exist.   We have examined in general why people can end up mistakenly thinking that parts of the Bible are saying they have no hope spiritually. In the next webpage we will probe Scriptures in which people seemed to have been given no hope of salvation. We will make the surprising discovery that even in these extreme cases God was actually still reaching out in love and offering them hope.   Next Webpage:  Rejected by God? Could You be Damned and Without Hope?

God’s Astounding Power to Turn Evil into Good   Right now, your life may seem a hopeless mess of shattered pieces, but your divine Lover treasures every fragment, even those life experiences you have suffered that seem worse than useless. Discarding nothing, he will lovingly treat each incident in your life as a critical piece of a jigsaw that only a supernatural genius could solve. He will reassemble every meaningless disaster, shameful failure and hideous sin, until together they form priceless beauty that no one would ever guess could emerge from such evil and chaos.   Will God really turn our sin into something that glorifies him? Yes. Obviously, things would have been better still had we not sinned, but when we come to Christ for cleansing, he not only removes our shame and makes us sparkle with his purity, he works  all things  together for good (Romans 8:28).   Consider, for example, the apostle Paul’s atrocious sin. Christianity was in its vulnerable infancy. Like perhaps no one else in all of history, Paul had the opportunity to permanently wipe from the planet every memory of Christianity. And he was intent on doing so. God intervened, of course, but had Paul’s determined plans succeeded and Christianity were eradicated before any of the New Testament were written, all of us today would be without the Gospel, destined for hell. He tortured and tormented Christians, trying to make them blaspheme their Lord, hoping to force them to abandon Christ, thus destroying them eternally. Given the eternal implications, this makes serial murder seem like a parking offense. How could even the God of the impossible wring any good out of that evil? And yet he did.   The book of Acts recounts Paul’s conversion testimony not once or even twice but three times (Acts chapters 9, 22 & 26). That’s how significant to God is Paul’s sinful background. That the apostle Paul was once violently opposed to Christianity has been the critical fact that has convinced countless thousands throughout history of the power and authenticity of the Gospel.   What about sins after conversion? Though you would be excused for expecting the opposite result, throughout history literally millions of Christians have drawn comfort and inspiration from Peter denying his Lord three times. “If there’s hope for Peter, there’s hope for me,” they gladly conclude. The same is true of King David’s shocking adultery and murderous cover-up. Moreover, who alone out of David's many sons did God choose as heir to David's throne and ancestor of the Messiah? Bathsheba's son, Solomon. This man should never have even been born. His mother should still have been married to the man David murdered. And yet God so forgave that he chose the product of David's greatest moral fall to be a key figure in Jewish and redemptive history and the one he endowed with astounding wisdom.   Because God bringing good even out of sin is so mind-boggling, I’ll give just one more example. Suppose you had an abortion. No matter how appalling the sin, the Lord is keen to forgive and once he forgives you, amazing things can happen. The Lord could, for example, use the experience to deepen your awareness of the magnitude of God’s forgiveness, or to keep you from falling into pride, or to give you ministry and witnessing opportunities by increasing your empathy for others who have suffered that way. Should we sin that grace may abound? Of course not! But our sufferings move God far too deeply for him to let them be wasted.   Romans 8:28-29  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For  those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son . . .  (Emphasis mine.)   This seems to be saying that the good that God works towards by manipulating  all things  that beset us is not that we get our selfish pleasure but that we end up conformed to the image of Christ. If that disappoints you a little, you haven’t thought it through. To be like Christ is something far more wondrous that any cheap thrills you might have had in mind.   To be like Christ is to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit – love, peace, goodness, self-control, and so on. That’s thrilling, but there’s more. To be like Christ is to be not just dignified but regal, not just powerful but ruling from heaven’s throne, not just smart but having access to divine wisdom, not just attractive but radiant with unsurpassable inner beauty, not just morally upright but perfect in the piercing eyes of humanity’s holy Judge, not just happy but overflowing with inexpressible joy, not just youthful but eternal, not just sympathetic but empowered to transform lives.   There’s More: Innocent! You are no longer the person who sinned! Warning:   These Pages Won’t Help Everyone Some people terrified about being unforgivable just need Bible-based reassurance or an explanation of a disturbing Scripture. If vast amounts of rational support and biblical exposition are the answer, keep following the links. Many Christians, however, presume this is what they need but it turns out that no amount of biblical proof or sound, theological argument or even spectacular spiritual experience can put their minds to rest. If you have already sought much help but worries keep resurfacing, you most likely need a totally different approach. You should skip these pages (you can return later if you wish) and go straight to  Scrupulosity .

You are no longer the person who sinned!   This webpage assumes you have undergone a spiritual transformation so radical that it is appropriately called being born again. This, the most thrilling and significant experience known to humanity, is so misunderstood that millions walk past it, never imagining the wonders they are missing. If you are unsure about this, it is important to bookmark this page and go straight to  You Can Find Love .   You are a new creation  (you could almost say a new species)   Your old guilt-ridden self is dead and buried. That’s the most wonderful news anyone could hear! Gleefully devour the  Scriptures  that make this announcement to the world! You are a totally different person to the one who sinned. Just as you are utterly innocent of the sins of another person, so you are innocent of your past sins. The devil has no more right to accuse you for Charles Mason’s or Jack the Ripper’s sins than for your past sins.   2 Corinthians 5:17  declares you to be a new creation – a totally new person – because of what Christ has done. The old has passed away. The person who was defeated, the person who sinned, the person who didn’t radiate the beauty of Christ, is dead. You are someone new, a completely different person to the one who, like all of us outside of Christ, had reason to feel ashamed.   Satan could accuse you as much as he liked for Hitler’s sin, but the accusations would be meaningless. You would ignore them because you know you’re not Hitler. Likewise, he can accuse as much as he likes about the person you once were, but you can ignore it. That person is dead. It’s not you. It was someone else who did those shameful things. You have a whole new identity. The new you, the person you now are, is pure and holy and righteous and filled with the beauty of God; a prince or princess – a child of the King of kings – heir to the riches of God, someone in whom God delights and is proud of.   No one likes being slandered and that is what Satan is trying with you, but it’s a case of mistaken identity. Satan is accusing the wrong person. The person he’s accusing is dead and buried with Christ. Just ignore him. When the Accuser knocks, he’s at the wrong address!   Imagine you’ve just moved into a new apartment. It so happens that the previous tenant had foolishly amassed a huge debt and then died. The day after moving in, there’s a knock on the door. It’s a debt collector claiming you owe quarter of a million dollars. ‘You’ve got the wrong person,’ you tell him.   ‘I was given this address,’ he replies.   ‘Maybe so, but I’m not the person who owes the money.’   ‘No, this is the address, alright!’   ‘The person you want is  dead! ’   ‘Look! I’ll bring the full weight of the law down on you!’   ‘Please do!’ you reply, ‘the law will prove I’m not the person you claim I am.’   Suppose this goes on day after day. Each time you could slam the door in his face and refuse to listen to his groundless accusations. Or you could choose to waste hours every day arguing with him. Or you could meekly listen to all his insults and foolishly begin to believe him. No alternative would be entirely pain-free. And none of them would change the fact that you are innocent. But clearly some responses would be far more upsetting and disruptive to your life than others.   This, of course, describes your situation, and that of every Christian. You live at the same address as the guilty person – your body. But the person living at that address is a new tenant. No matter who comes knocking at your door, the law (of God) is always on your side. God pronounces you innocent. It’s up to you how much you let the Accuser annoy you. You won’t be able to stop him knocking at your door, but it’s your choice whether you keep ignoring him or invite him in and give weight to his lies. Either way, you are still innocent, but why put yourself through unnecessary torment? The old you died with Christ -  Galatians 2:20   So the old you, the person who had reason to feel dirty, ashamed and inferior, is dead. Christ now lives in you – Christ in all His beauty and purity and perfection; Christ in all his goodness, splendor and favor with God. A little girl, when asked how she dealt with temptation, said that when the devil knocks, she sends Jesus to the door. That’s what you can do. Christ has taken up residence within you. The previous tenant is dead. Christ now lives at your address. You don’t even have to worry about trying to forgive yourself, because the real you, the person you now are in Christ, never did anything that needed forgiveness. The old you, the person who needed forgiveness, no longer exists. You have been born again -  John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3;23   Sadly, overuse of the term born again has sapped this mind-boggling expression of it’s power. It is such an astounding concept as to be almost beyond our powers of intellect to grasp. What more powerful way could there be to convey the fact that, spiritually, you have no past? You weren’t even born when the things your mind accuses you of took place! You can’t get any more innocent than that! What a miracle! What a display of love, for God to do that for you!   (If the sins that haunt you happened  after  you were born again, don’t be disturbed. Once repented of, later sins, like surgically removed tumors, are no longer a part of you. They are a dead issue, a non-event, consigned to the same fate as pre-conversion sins; wiped from heaven’s data banks. (As you keep following the main link at the bottom of each page you will discover entire webpages devoted to reassuring you about sins committed after conversion.)   Maintaining the breakthrough   God has promised you everything mentioned in this webpage, but he never promised you would  feel  it. Father God expects his children to place their confidence not in their fickle feelings, but in the integrity of the one who rises the sun each morning. The Christian religion is rightly called the Christian  Faith . Faith is paramount.   When Jesus successfully resisted every temptation hurled at him in the wilderness, Scripture says Satan left him, not for forever, but for a while ( Luke 4:13 ). Through Jesus, we too, can have spectacular victories over Satan and he will withdraw,  for a while . He’ll skulk into his hole to lick his wounds, but he’ll be back. That’s not because of any inadequacy in you. He did the same with Jesus. When the battle returns, you’ll need to rush to these webpages to once again take your fill of Scripture’s liberating truths with which to resist the awful, deceptive feelings and accusations he’ll try to land on you. Below are more webpages on the same theme. You might not need them now, but print them off in readiness for when the battle returns.   I also suggest you pamper yourself by regularly reading the following Scripture:   Romans 6:3  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  (4)  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  (5)  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  (6)  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin –  (7)  because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  (8)  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  (9)  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  (10)  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  (11)  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  (12)  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Romans 6:4  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. . . .  (6)  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.   Colossians 3:3  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.   Galatians 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.     Return to the webpage that will set you free

In the name of Jesus, who shed his blood that I might have eternal life, I rebuke and refuse to surrender to any and every evil power that would like me to doubt the infinity of God’s love and goodness and to doubt the power of Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive  all  sin. I hereby relinquish everything that is not of God and I swear my allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, affirming him as my Lord and Savior and declaring that the cleansing power of his sacrifice is stronger than any sin I could ever commit. Anxiety might plague me, Lord, but I praise you that you are stronger than any unwanted feeling, doubt, worry, guilt, fear or disgusting thoughts. Moreover, you have promised to work all things together for the good of those who love you. I love you, so this is your promise to me. I thank you that this persistent anxiety that harasses and confuses me is my opportunity to grow spiritually stronger, just as having to keep running uphill is a chance to grow physically stronger. Faith is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7) and faith can only develop during times when feelings and circumstances clash with what you want me to believe. So I praise you for this opportunity to grow in faith. And I thank you that even though, because of the very nature of the trial, it will feel as if you have left me, you are actually with me every step of the way. Despite everything that might plague me and confuse me, you have pledged never to leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). Regardless of what I feel, you remain faithful and true. You are Truth and you declare over and over such things as: 1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. You rightly say that if I claim to have never sinned, I deceive myself and accuse you of lying. In the same way, if I, who have confessed to you my sins and put my faith in Jesus, claim to be unforgiven, I also deceive myself and accuse you of being a liar. Anxiety feels like a guilty conscience. This tempts me to dishonor you by concluding that just because I  feel  guilty, you must have lied when you made this promise to cleanse all who confess their sin to you. Despite these horrible feelings, however, I make you, not my feelings, my God – my spiritual authority and source of truth. Since you, in the above Scripture, declare me purified from all unrighteousness, then I  am  purified from  all  unrighteousness, no matter what I experience and how powerfully I might be tempted to think otherwise. So I hang on to your truth, refusing to contradict you, no matter what feelings and doubts rage within. I cannot stop powerful feelings that are contrary to your truth – even Jesus was tempted – but I can repent of caving into the temptation to accept those feelings as truth. I repent of being so carnal as to think that a mere feeling – rather than your Word – indicates spiritual truth. I have sinned by thinking that you might not be the God of infinite love and that you therefore must prove your love for me by giving me signs or feelings or assurances. I have insulted you by wanting such “proof,” as if you could lie or be unloving unless what you say is true matches my feelings or circumstances. From now on, I steadfastly refuse to believe that any feeling, no matter how strong, persistent and convincing, is a more reliable source of truth than you are. “The just shall live by faith” (KJV, cited four times in the Bible – Habakkuk 2:4. Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). So I choose to live by faith, not feelings. I hereby renounce feelings, or anything less than you alone, as a reliable source of spiritual truth. The perfection of divine love means that you passionately love even your worst enemies; more fervently yearning to forgive them than any human is capable of craving anything. You recoil at the thought of in any way letting your beloved Son’s agonizing sacrifice for the sins of the entire world be in vain. You want  no one  to perish (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 33:11). You tell us to forgive “seventy times seven” and yet I keep worrying that you will tire of forgiving me, as if perhaps you were a hypocrite. The truth is that you love me far, far more than any human has ever managed to love himself or anyone else. Driven by infinite love, you passionately long to keep on forgiving me and to lavish your mercy upon me for all eternity. Since this is your burning desire, propelling you to the extreme of the cross, I was wrong to ever  beg  you to forgive me, as if there were any reluctance within you to cleanse me. You are  eager  to forgive; your reluctance is in giving signs and feelings because that makes me spiritually vulnerable by fostering a dependence upon means that the Deceiver can easily replicate and manipulate. Your word declares that it is faith, not signs and feelings, that is “the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, KJV). I repent of playing into the devil’s hand by seeking such things instead of simply accepting your loving forgiveness. I acknowledge that signs and feelings are the Devil’s playthings – his way to entice us to get our eyes off the cross and the integrity of your character. He cannot touch spiritual truth but he can toy with signs and feelings. Faith is our only shield; our sole protection against his trickery. So I commit myself to start honoring you by stubbornly clinging to you, no matter how many doubts, fears, worries, guilt feelings and unwanted thoughts scream within me. I cease right now from insulting you by wanting signs, feelings or assurances as proof that you love and forgive everyone – including me – who comes to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I renounce all attempts to get such things. The integrity of your character is all that I need. I resolve from now on to live as you have called all your children to live – by sheer faith, and nothing else. Taken from https://www.netburst.net/post/scrupulosity Back

2 Corinthians 5:21  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 1 Corinthians 1:30  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Romans 3:20  Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.  (21)  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  (22)  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, Romans 9:30  What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;  (31)  but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.  (32)  Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling-stone”. Galatians 2:16  know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no-one will be justified. Philippians 3:9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 1 John 1:8  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  (9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 4:17  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. Hebrews 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.  (16)  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. And very many other Scriptures.   Return to the webpage God will use to set you free

Supernaturally Confirmed Unforgivable or Damned By dreams, Visions & Miracles     When Supernatural Signs Contradict Biblical Truth     Supernatural Deception   No one familiar with the Bible should be surprised when supernatural revelation confirmed by undeniable miracles contradicts the holy Word of God or declares a genuine Christian to be spiritually damned, unforgivable or apostate. It could happen to you at any moment. Are you prepared for it?   I love plunging headlong into topics but this time I see the need to provide some perspective and explain why this topic is so important to everyone.   In the webpages listed at  Feeling Condemned? There’s Hope!  you will find overwhelming biblical and theological proof that God longs to forgive, and that there is no one alive who cannot be cleansed from  all  sin, provided he or she sincerely seeks it through faith that by his sacrificial death Christ has paid the full penalty for humanity’s sin.   My writings on this matter are so extensive because year after year after year I was driven to extremes to keep piling higher and higher this mountain of proof because of deep compassion for people who seemed to need ridiculous quantities of proof. Literally hundreds of people kept e-mailing me out of what turned out to be an irrational, insatiable yearning for more and more proof. Like them, I was under the illusion that they needed more facts, more Scriptures, more convincing arguments to find the peace and assurance they so desperately craved. Finally, I discovered to my amazement that their lack of peace had nothing to do with a deficiency in theological knowledge or spiritual experience but was the product of an anxiety disorder (often undiagnosed) that keeps gnawing away inside them, making them feel guilty and anxious and uncertain, no matter how much divine reassurance they receive.   Anxiety feels like a guilty conscience and acts like a false alarm screaming that something is dangerously wrong when, in fact, all is well. This insidious affliction keeps its victims feeling oppressively guilty, thus incessantly tempting them to believe their intense feelings, rather than believe God’s promises. Starting with  Scrupulosity: Worried about Salvation & Severe Guilt Feelings , I have written many webpages specifically to help these people understand the nature of their affliction and learn how to live with it.   This webpage, however, is for another group of people: those whose faith in the power of Christ to forgive  every  sin is undermined by powerfully supernatural indications that they are damned. These dear people have been attacked by terrifyingly convincing dreams and visions, and/or signs that are so supernatural that they are sorely tempted to presume the signs are of divine origin.     This webpage is not just for these people, however, but for us all, because any of us at any moment could suffer such an attack and, without the information provided here, we would be highly vulnerable to deception.   Although dreams may sometimes be supernatural, they are more commonly the mind reacting to fears and anxieties. For example, after a scary car accident, one is likely to have many disturbing dreams about being in car accidents. Obviously, these are not warnings from God but a natural response to an upsetting experience. This link between dreams and anxiety makes those suffering from an anxiety disorder especially likely to suffer alarming dreams that can seem to confirm their worst fears. Such dreams can be natural and yet so vivid and terrifying as to seem supernatural. In this webpage, however, we will focus on dreams, visions and signs that are genuinely supernatural.   Only God is good (Mark 10:18). Only he is truth. Only he is love. While he alone is all-powerful, he is not the only source of supernatural power. There are evil supernatural beings who, by their very nature, are opposed to God and play dirty, seeking to seduce and deceive those who serve God. Evil spirits are quite capable of manufacturing signs and wonders. The Word of God leaves us in no doubt about the power of supernaturally deceptive signs:   Mark 13:22  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and  perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect  – if that were possible.   2 Thessalonians 2:9-10  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with  the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders , and in every sort of evil that  deceives  those who are perishing. . . .   Acts 8:9-11  Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” They followed him because  he had amazed them for a long time with his magic .   Revelation 13:3  One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the  fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast .   Revelation 13:12-14  He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And  he performed great and miraculous signs , even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast,  he deceived the inhabitants of the earth . . . .   Revelation 19:20   . . . the false prophet who had performed the  miraculous signs  on his behalf.  With these signs he had deluded  those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. . . . (Emphasis mine.)   No wonder John admonished those he loved:   1 John 4:1  Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God . . .   Likewise, we read:   1 Thessalonians 5:20-21  do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything . . . . (Emphasis mine.)   Matthew 7:15, 22-23  Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. . . . Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and  in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Emphasis mine.)   Matthew 24:11  and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.   2 Peter 2:1  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.   All of these divine warnings line up with even more ancient warnings. Read carefully:   Deuteronomy 13:1-5  If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.   Here the Almighty emphatically declares that false prophecies confirmed by dreams and supernatural signs could actually come to pass and yet must be totally rejected.   It is a test: will we trust in the integrity of Almighty God, who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19), or will we believe Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44), simply because the evil deceiver has a speck of supernatural power? Will we pursue integrity or power; common truth or spectacular lies? Will we stubbornly believe in the love of God and the forgiving power of the cross or cave in to satanically inspired fear?   We can even travel back further in time to Pharaoh’s court, when divine miracles performed through Moses were matched by the occult powers of the magicians. Yes, the true God eventually allowed his power to be proved stronger, but take very seriously this account:   Exodus 7:10-13; 20-22; 8:6-7   . . . Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake.  . . . Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen . . . Moses  . . . struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. . . . But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron . . . So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.   When Pharaoh saw the power of the magicians matching that of the true God, his heart hardened against God. Will we be so foolish as to harden our hearts against what the God of the Bible declares to be true, just because of supernatural manifestations?   The power of false prophets and dreams and so on is confirmed throughout Scripture. For example:   Jeremiah 23:25-26  I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?   Jeremiah 29:8-9   . . . “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD.   Ezekiel 13:2-3,22-23  Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘ . . . Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! . . . Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief . . . therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.’   Zechariah 10:2  The idols speak deceit, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.   Zechariah 13:4  On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive.   Over and over the holy Word of God insists that we must cling to the full biblical revelation of God and not let ourselves be duped by supernaturally convincing signs and visions. In the words of the great apostle, “But even if we  [apostles of God]  or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:8). This does not mean that preaching another gospel is unforgivable – before his conversion, Paul himself taught, and even did all he could to violently enforce, doctrines that were contrary to the gospel – but it means we are to take no notice of anything that contracts biblical revelation, even if it were to come from an angel from heaven or a revered preacher.   And this is no wonder, since “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” (2 Corinthians 11:14).   Clearly just because something is supernatural does not mean that we should accept it as truth.   Note all the supernatural elements in the following:   Matthew 3-16-4:11  As soon as Jesus was baptized . . . heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. . . . The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. . . . Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. . . . Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.   Do you find it as staggering as I do, that God’s Chosen was somehow physically propelled by the devil both to the top of the temple and later to “a very high mountain”? What I find even more astonishing than the devil physically moving the eternal Son of God is that what Jesus was shown on the mountain was more than physical. From no mountain in the world could anyone see “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”. Somehow, the devil not only got Christ to the exact geographical point where he wanted him, but the devil messed with the holy mind of the Son of God and gave him a supernatural vision of all the kingdoms of the world.   If even the Lord of lords could be subjected to satanic, supernatural signs and visions, it is clear that signs and visions must never be automatically accepted as being from God. Like our Leader, we must refuse to be swayed by them but must stubbornly cling to Scripture, just as Jesus, in response to each of the three powerfully persuasive temptations had to slice through the deception by declaring, “It is written . . .” The devil, knowing the exalted position Jesus gave to Scripture, even tried to confuse and deceive Jesus by quoting from the Bible (Matthew 4:6). Jesus’ response was the same as usual: “It is also written . . .” (Matthew 4:7).   Over and over Scripture says such things as:   1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from  all  unrighteousness.   And:   Hebrews 13:5   . . .God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”   Like all Scriptures, these remain true no matter how many signs and wonders contradict it. Anything contradicting such Scriptures must be rejected as insidious lies, no matter how many out-of-body experiences you have, or how many million angels in luminescent nighties sing it, or how often your neighbors are woken by a booming voice thundering it to you, or how many psychedelic dreams you have, or how many times your donkey speaks to you, or how many other spectacular miracles confirm the contradiction, or how many prophets from God declare it.   To ask God to confirm that you are forgiven after you have sincerely confessed your sin and sought forgiveness through Jesus is a gross insult to God. It is implying that the Holy One is capable of lying and it is questioning the power of the cross to forgive all sin. Even that blasphemy will be forgiven the instant we seek it but do not imagine that God will concede that his Word is inadequate and that he might lie and so give you a sign that this time he is not lying.   But What If . . .   Elsewhere in this long series of webpages I have proved that we are called to live by faith, not feelings and that we must not look to feelings as a source of spiritual truth. In this webpage I have proved from the Word of God that we must not use dreams, visions, miracles or any other supernatural sign as a source of spiritual truth. The webpages listed at  Feeling Condemned? There’s Hope!  are filled with Scriptures affirming that no one who puts his faith in Jesus is excluded from salvation and for all who put their faith in him there is nothing that is unforgivable. If feelings or the supernatural do not line up with the Word of God, they must be rejected, no matter how powerfully convincing they seem. What, however, should we do if we meet a Scripture that seems to condemn us and to undermine faith in the forgiving power of the cross? In the next webpage we will face this issue head-on.   Next Webpage:   Condemned by the Bible? Afraid of God’s Word

To Err is Human;To Forgive is Divine Choosing your Punishment This series of webpages is about feeling forgiven, not about forgiving others. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to insert this small page here because when people share their hearts with me I keep finding that the two types of forgiveness are inseparably linked. Like spitting into the wind, not forgiving others flies back and hits us. Until we learn to forgive others we will most likely suffer serious problems believing that God has forgiven us. In some countries, it is enshrined by national law that people of native ancestry choose by their lifestyle whether they are regarded as part of native society – and hence judged by tribal law – or whether they will be subject to judgments imposed by national courts, should they commit certain offences. For lawbreakers of aboriginal descent, the difference might mean being speared in the leg versus imprisonment. In other cases it has meant being severely punished for breaking tribal law versus going unpunished.   Spiritually, we find ourselves with a similar, though more serious, choice. The lifestyle we choose determines whether we will be judged according to divine grace, or by a more primitive judgment akin to what humans usually prefer to inflict on each other.   You have heard it said that to err is human; to forgive is divine. Human justice says, if you do the crime, you receive the punishment. Divine grace says, if you do the crime, God’s only Son receives the punishment. Most of us would like both to be judged by grace and to judge others by harsher standards. But that’s hypocrisy. Humanity’s Judge must be perfect. Despite his overwhelming love for you, he must not corrupt himself by being partner to such a scheme. There must be total consistency between the way we judge others and the way we are eternally judged.   By choosing a lifestyle of graciously forgiving everyone who ever offends us we choose to be judged by divine grace. By electing not to forgive someone, however, we choose to be eternally judged by the method that humans prefer to administer, but don’t want to receive – the way that knows no forgiveness. As fallen humans, we find ourselves suspended between acting like animals and acting like God. Our calling – God’s mind-blowing invitation – is to rise from living like beasts to living like God. Our “mission impossible,” should we choose to accept it, is to rise from living by the law of the jungle to living by grace.   The choice is ours. We can be too proud to forgive or too proud to let Jesus be punished for our offenses, but that leaves us with no option than to bear the punishment ourselves. On the other hand, we can choose to be one with Jesus. The only way to do this is by both accepting his punishment for our sins and by joining him in saying, “Father, forgive them,” to people so despicable that they were torturing to death an innocent person. By this we choose God’s mercy.   Justice demands that we be punished forever. For us to escape the horrific demands of justice, we must quit demanding justice. By wanting someone to suffer as he or she deserves, we are refusing to live in the realm of grace. By wanting any wrongdoer to get what he or she deserves, we are forcing God to give us what  we  deserve. We couldn’t make a worse decision, given the reality that we each deserve hell.   A staggering number of people foolishly presume that they can reject God’s mercy, and yet expect God to still be merciful. We can’t have it both ways. As we have seen, a perfect judge cannot be partner to hypocrisy. By refusing God’s mercy – either by ignoring Jesus’ offer to be punished for us or by refusing to let mercy rule the way we treat others – we leave God with no option than to bring upon us the full, terrifying, eternal punishment our sins deserve. The appropriate punishment is more horrific than we can even conceive. Being sinners, and surrounded by sinners every day of our lives, has made us too callous to grasp how atrocious our offences really are. Those who ignore the way of grace are making the worse mistake anyone could ever make.   Forgiving others is not about earning God’s approval. It simply allows God to do what he longs to do – to lift us to a higher level in which we are judged by entirely different standards to what we would otherwise be subjected. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. . . . Forgive, and you will be forgiven,” said Jesus (Luke 6:37). How we judge – with mercy or with a desire to punish – determines how we will be judged.   It is not the things we have done – they can all be forgiven – that determines whether we are judged by divine mercy or by eternal justice. All that matters is our heart attitude – whether we are forgiving or judgmental – and whether our faith is in the forgiving power of Jesus’ sacrifice or in our ability to bear our own punishment. The Lord of all longs for us to enter the realm of grace where he showers upon us the blessings that Jesus deserves, instead of the judgment that we deserve.   You might be so conscious that to forgive is divine that you conclude it is humanly impossible. That’s okay. The God of the impossible is so eager for you to enter the divine that he’ll do all that is needed to ensure that you dwell in the divine realm of forgiving and being forgiven. All God requires is your willingness to let him perform the miracle. Then hold on to your hat as you commence life’s most exciting adventure, soaring beyond human limitations, as the Almighty empowers you to forgive as fully as he longs to forgive you. If you refuse to forgive others, God will refuse to forgive you. Forgiving others, however, is a long journey. If you are  wanting  to forgive but find it almost impossible, you have already made good progress. If you have reached that point, I believe God can forgive you, though you will still suffer much anguish doubting that God has forgiven you. The more you progress with forgiving others, the more you will be able to believe that God has forgiven you and the more you will be able to forgive yourself. On the other hand, the more you are sure that God has forgiven you, the easier it will be to forgive yourself and to forgive others. The three aspects of forgiveness are part of the one package and progress with one helps the others, while a refusal to progress with one holds back the others.   So at this point, the web series divides. Some readers will need to progress with the issue of forgiving others before proceeding with more help in believing that they are forgiven. These readers should bookmark this page or note the web address, go to  Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive ,  and from there follow links to still other pages about forgiving others. After completing those pages they should then return here to continue with this series about learning how to be sure they are forgiven and how to enjoy their forgiveness.   Next: Two Options   More About Getting Rid of Guilt Feelings Supernaturally Confirmed Unforgivable or Damned by dreams, Visions & Miracles? (This is most encouraging webpage, even though the title seems scary.It proves that one need not fear supposed revelations from Godthat one is damned, unforgivable, apostate or whatever.)   More About Forgiving Others Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive

Kick Up Your Heels And Rejoice!     Discovering the Ecstasy Of a Squeaky Clean Conscience     The following assumes you have undergone a spiritual transformation so radical that it is appropriately called being born again. This, the most thrilling and significant experience known to humanity, is so misunderstood that millions walk past it, never imagining the wonders they are missing. If you are unsure about this, it is important to bookmark this page and go straight to  You Can Find Love .   I once enjoyed over a year in high spirits. I had never been so joyful in all my life. Then I crashed into depression. Why? I had previously been focusing solely on Jesus and delighting in his perfection (which is ours through our union with him). Then I began examining myself and seeing all my failings. Depression snuck in. Upon discovering my mistake, I changed my focus and joy returned.   The transformation worked because it is scriptural. In Christ is a huge and exciting treasure-trove of delights fitting the category of Philippians 4:8 (whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.) This makes the Scripture four verses earlier (Rejoice in the Lord always) easy. When we look at Jesus we see beauty, goodness, perfection, love, and every good thing. What a smorgasbord of things to delight in! When we look at ourselves, however, it’s a different story. God asks us to focus on him because the benefits are astounding. Notice the instruction is to rejoice  in the Lord . There is little in ourselves to rejoice about, but in Jesus there is an endless array of wondrous things in which to rejoice. Focusing on Jesus is the secret of endless joy.   What we focus on determines what we become. The more we feast our eyes on Christ, the more we’ll become like him. As we gaze upon the glory of God, says Scripture, we are progressively transformed from one degree of glory to another. No wonder Hebrews 12:1-2 urges us to put sin aside and run the race of life, ‘looking unto Jesus’.   It takes effort – huge effort – to keep our eyes on Jesus when we’ve become so used to examining ourselves all the time. But I assure you, it’s worth every bit of effort it takes!   Remember Peter walking on the water. While he was looking at Jesus and thinking of what Jesus was doing (Jesus was walking on water) the impossible was easy. But when Peter got his eyes off the Lord, he began looking at circumstances and remembered his frailty. It’s hardly surprising that he began to sink. The result wasn’t serious, however, because Jesus was right there. And Jesus is with you.   Give God a break!   Although it is so easy to become preoccupied with ourselves and our past, it is really a form of selfishness. The union God has with you is deeper than marriage. Who would you rather be married to? Someone who is always withdrawn and miserable, or someone who sparkles with joy? Give God a break! Jesus is indeed your better half. Focus on him. Every time the shame of your former life flashes into you consciousness, turn it into an opportunity to fall more in love with the God who loved you in your degradation. You were so special to him that his dear Son went through agony to make you pure and undefiled. If he loved you when you were in your filth, how much more certain is it that he delights in you now that he has beautified you, scrubbing you spotlessly clean? When haunted by your guilt-ridden past, don’t slink off to a corner and mope. It’s your cue to throw a party, rejoicing in God’s unfathomable love. Rush up to the God who has purified you and fling your arms around him in sheer joy and gratitude. Shower him with love and thanks and awe.   Not Earned, Just Enjoyed!   And don’t for one moment imagine you can earn God’s forgiveness by being miserable or by being hard on yourself. That’s like saying, ‘If I give you $1,000 will you love me?’ You are forgiven because of the immensity of God’s love, not because you could ever do anything to deserve it. You can’t earn God’s approval, you can only delight in it.   The Value of Guilt Feelings   When it comes to lizards and spiders my mother is brave, but with birds she crumbles. In a walk-in aviary she’d be petrified. It would be an awful experience for her, but, of course, she’d be perfectly safe. That’s like the worst the Deceiver could do to you. He could give you an unpleasant experience, but nothing more. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are in the arms of God. Safe.   Moreover those horrible thoughts and feelings are spiritually beneficial. Of immense value, in fact.   Your faith, says Scripture, is infinitely more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7). Its rewards last for all eternity. It is the most critical factor the whole Christian walk. Every gift of God, whether it be salvation, victory over temptation, answered prayer, love, miracles, or whatever, can only be appropriated by this means. Everything hinges on it. The greater your faith, the more heaven’s riches are at your disposal. And how can you grow in faith? The same way you grow muscle – by using it. You expand your faith by holding on to God’s truth when everything within you seems to scream the opposite. For each moment you hold on, you’re building spiritual muscle – growing in faith – accumulating spiritual wealth. It’s in the painful times that you develop spiritually, just like it’s in the pain of physical exercise that you develop physically.   By putting guilt feelings on you, Satan is falling right into God’s trap, giving you the perfect opportunity to develop the most valuable spiritual asset. Each moment you choose to believe God’s truth rather than the guilt feelings and accusations, you are building your faith, which can be used over and over for the rest of your life to buy spiritual treasures.   So when those guilt feelings come, rejoice! The two mirrors The Word of God is like a mirror, says  James 1:23 . As you look into God’s Word you come face to face with reality, and so you begin to see your true beauty. But the devil also has a mirror. In his hand is a horribly cracked and distorted mirror that makes the most beautiful things of God look hideous. He keeps beckoning you to look in his direction, and whenever you do, he flashes his mirror, revealing a grotesque reflection of yourself that makes you cringe. You feel ugly and unlovable. The only solution is to keep looking into the pure mirror of God to see yourself as you really are, resplendent with the beauty of Christ. Keep looking into that mirror, dear one. The Evil One tries with all the malicious deceit he can muster to fool you into thinking that the way you look in his cracked mirror is the way you look in God’s eyes. And if you really looked like that to God, you’d have every reason to want to shrink from God and the mirror of his Word. You wouldn’t want to be reminded of how repulsive you are. But it’s all lies! You are beautiful to God. And if you dare gaze into God’s mirror long enough, you’ll see how beautiful he has made you.  Then  you’ll rejoice! These webpages (see below) are designed to entice you to look at God’s word and be amazed at your beauty in Christ. The Deceiver won’t ease up in flashing his cracked mirror in your direction, so you need to keep coming back to these pages, and to the Scriptures on which they are based, to keep fresh the memory of how beautiful you really look to God. Here’s some of ways Almighty God sees you: Precious child. Holy one. Accepted. Enveloped in divine love. Sparkling clean. Crystal pure. Made perfect in Christ Jesus. Complete and whole. Filled with glory. Destined for greatness. There’s More: Don’t miss this next page Rock Solid Bible Truth: Your Sinlessness in Christ Warning:   These Pages Won’t Help Everyone Some people terrified about being unforgivable just need Bible-based reassurance or an explanation of a disturbing Scripture. If vast amounts of rational support and biblical exposition are the answer, keep following the links. Many Christians, however, presume this is what they need but it turns out that no amount of biblical proof or sound, theological argument or even spectacular spiritual experience can put their minds to rest. If you have already sought much help but worries keep resurfacing, you most likely need a totally different approach. You should skip these pages (you can return later if you wish) and go straight to  Scrupulosity .