The Continual Forgiveness of Sins – Christ – Our Advocate – Purity 1682
Purity 1682 06/12/2025 Purity 1682 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of a forest pathway leading to a short wooden bridge comes to us from yours truly as I captured this simple peaceful scene while walking along this unnamed trail off of Hunt Wood Rd in Clifton Park NY back on August 21st, 2022.
Well, It’s Thursday and I share this pathway photo as a visual reminder or encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian Discipleship where each step further draws you closer into God’s mercy, grace, and love.
I have been blessed lately by the teachings of Mark DeJesus through his podcast, The Healing and Freedom Journey, and the audio books for Exposing the Rejection Mindset & The OCD Healing Journey, who stresses the importance of experiencing God’ love for us as the means to being healed of negative mindsets, discursive thoughts, and compulsive behavior patterns. DeJesus teaches that God’s healing often comes “relationally” – in that we have an experience or a revelation of God’s truth and love in such a way that it changes the way we relate to God, to ourselves, and to others.
In examining my own journey of recovery and healing through my faith in Jesus Christ and my relationship with God, I concur with DeJesus’ theory and am surprised to that this important aspect of Christian discipleship, healing, and discipleship hasn’t been made widely disseminated to the body of Christ. In my journey, I struggled mightily to know what God was really like, to understand my identity in Christ , and to gain the proper perspective of how to live the Christian life with joy and peace and that thing that has often frustrated me is that after I have learned these hard lessons, I have encountered Christian counselors, pastors, authors, and coaches who have already shared the truths that I had come to learn. So for those out there who are seeking to be pointed in the right direction let me recommend the works of Mark DeJesus, Marcus Warner, Neil Anderson, John Eldredge, Watchmen Nee, Derek Prince, C.S. Lewis, and Dallas Willard.
With that said, as much as these authors could lead you in the right direction there is no substitute for seeking the Lord in earnest. We can’t just read about God we have to seek to connect with Him and the truth about life, Him, and ourselves, relationally – experientially, to allow the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and to change our hearts for healing and transformation.
One of the first thing that we must experience for heart change is receiving God’s forgiveness through our faith in Jesus and continually go to Jesus, our advocate, to experience God’s forgiveness continually.
Speaking of Christ’s advocacy, Today’s Turning Point devotion with Dr. David Jeremiah – who I would also recommend – speaks about this topic, so I am sharing it on the blog to remind each of us of God’s continual gift of forgiveness. Dr. David Jeremiah writes:
“WE HAVE A DEFENDER
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1
When job hunters prepare a résumé to send to prospective employers, they will often include this phrase: “References available upon request.” Instead of the word references, the word advocates could be used. An advocate is someone who speaks on another person’s behalf.
The apostle John wrote that Christians, if they sin, have an advocate who will speak on their behalf before the Father: “Jesus Christ the righteous.” The NIV1984 translation says, “We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense,” and the NLT translation says, “We have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father.” Why would we need such an advocate? Because Satan stands ready to accuse us of being unworthy of salvation because of our sin. The defense Christ brings before the Father is that “He Himself is the propitiation [the payment] for our sins” (1 John 2:2).
If you sin, confess it to God and know that Jesus Christ pleads your case before the Father—assuring that you are forgiven (1 John 1:9; Romans 8:31-34).” – David Jeremiah
I will glory…not because I am clear of sin, but because my sins are forgiven.
Ambrose
Amen. This is what grace is all about – that because of our faith in Jesus Christ – we receive the gift that we don’t deserve and that we can never earn for ourselves. Our salvation and continual forgiveness has nothing to do with our efforts or “being a good person” – it has everything to do with God’s mercy, grace, and love.
Unbelievably, for reasons we dare not question, God chose us to know the truth of His love and His plan for redemption.
If you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior, you are forgiven of all the things you have ever done and all the sins you will ever commit. Christ’s blood covers us and washes away our guilt and saves us from punishment.
Although the enemy will attempt to accuse and condemn us for our sins, Christ advocates for us and makes us fully acceptable to God.
So, what do we do with this tremendous gift?
- We rejoice! We foster a love for the Lord and thank Him for His love.
- We draw close to God. We stay close to the One who has saved us – with thanksgiving and to benefit from His presence and wisdom.
- We follow. We seek to experience more of God’s love and to experience the life that He intends for us to live.
- We trust. We believe what God has done for us and live according to it with joy and peace.
- We repent. Seeing the truth about our sins, we turn from them and lean on the Lord to help us think and live in a new way.
- We confess. Whenever we stumble and sin, we don’t run and hide – instead, we confess it to the Lord – to acknowledge that we know we have gone astray, to thank God for his forgiveness, and to reestablish our harmony with the Lord.
Our sins are forgiven. They don’t “separate us” from God in terms of our salvation, but they are not good for our souls, so we need to confess and turn away from them so we can have the peace that God wants us to have.
So, ask the Lord for help to move you further into the light and to never fear judgment by continually confessing your sins and slip-ups, and drawing closer to the Lord to become the person He has made you to be.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
1 John 5:2–3 (NASB) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Today’s verses fall under the ninth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
9. To love God is to keep his commandments.
Today’s Bible verses encourage us to express our love for God through simple obedience.
If we love someone, we show it by doing the things that they would like us to do. When we do the wishes of our loved ones, we demonstrate that we hear them, we know them, and that we love them.
If we do this for our human relationships, how much more should we do this in our relationship with the Lord. God has literally given us everything we have and is responsible for every good thing we have ever known. He is worthy of our love and worship so seek to show God your love for Him with simple obedience toi His commandments.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 181
This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign. – Luke 11:29
The host of miracles that Jesus performed did not satisfy the Jews. They wanted a different sort of sign—one that came directly from heaven. The eyes of people who want what they want and will not have what God offers them are blind to truth; they cannot even see the work of God when it occurs right in front of their faces. Well, to all such, Jesus offers but one more sign—the sign of Jonah. He said that as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days, so He will be three days in the heart of the earth. As Jonah came forth from the fish, so He would rise from the dead. And He did! There is no greater sign than this; the evidence for the empty tomb has brought more than one former doubter to faith. Does it strengthen your faith, believer? If not, peruse the facts as they are found in Wilbur Smith’s book, Therefore Stand (perhaps the greatest book ever written on the subject). Even many from that evil generation believed when He rose.[1]
———————more tomorrow——————————
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 189.
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