(by pastor Norman)

Christ died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins (Heb 9:26), He paid the price for all of our sins, past, present and future and He won for us God’s forgiveness (Col 1:14). As Christians we are no longer sinners (Rom 5:19) but we have been made His righteous children (2 Cor 5:21, John 1:12). We may still slip and commit sin but if we ask for His forgiveness He is quick to forgive. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; NKJV). However, sometimes we can struggle in our minds with past sins and failures and get to worrying that God couldn’t possibly forgive us. God says to us that, “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more “(Heb 10:17; NKJV; see also Heb 8:12). If God doesn’t remember our sins, then why should we? The apostle Paul reminds us that as Christians with Christ in our lives we are new creations, the old life has gone, and we live a new life by faith in Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus cautioned us that, “No one having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62; NKJV). Keep focused! Paul in Phil 4:13-14 says that he forgot the things in his past but pressed and reached forward for all God’s blessings and to be all God planned for him to be and do. As we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s word to us then the power of the Holy Spirit can transform us to be more and more like Jesus, and we can put the past firmly behind us (2 Cor 3:17-18).