A quote attributed to a man named Paul Washer blessed me since I happened upon it — “I have given Christ many reasons not to love me. None of them changed his mind.” To that we should all say, “Amen” (see Romans 3:23) and also, “Praise be to God” for the love that compelled Him to die for us and provide a way to save our souls from sin (Romans 5:6-11)! Washer’s words express a powerful thought for spiritually sensitive minds. The good news is none of the reasons we give Christ not to love us has changed His mind! In 1 Timothy 1:13 the apostle Paul admits he had given Christ a plethora of reasons not to love him: “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” (the New American Standard Bible says “a violent aggressor”). In verse 15 he sums it up by self-identifying as the “chief of sinners.” But in spite of all that, Paul declares that everyone ought to accept that “Christ came into the world to save sinners.” The Lord bestowed mercy and grace, replacing the unbelief and hatred that filled Paul’s prejudiced heart “with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (verse 16). In verse 16 the apostle declares he obtained all this mercy “that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” In other words, if Jesus didn’t change His mind about loving and wanting to save and use Paul, His super-sized love and grace is for us, too! Max Lucado said in one of his books, “Guilt goes out when grace comes in.” Paul’s response for this tsunami of grace was to express gratitude to Christ in verse 12 for “enabling” him with energy and strength and “putting me into the ministry.” The realization of God’s love and grace in his life not only converted Paul but became compelled and moved and motivated him to live his life for Christ and to serve the Lord with all his heart until his dying day.
What would it take to convince you that God wants to acquit you of your sins? The view of God that suggests He is eager to condemn and judge, and that He is stingy with His love and grace, and like many human beings, doles it out in thimbles-full, flies in the face of His own testimony in Scripture and contradicts everything we see at the cross! I am reminded of a story from back in the mobster days. A twice-convicted young criminal was on trial yet a third time, this time for murder. A wave of panic came over him as he surveyed the jury during the trial. Positive he would never beat the murder rap, he managed to get a message to one of the kinder looking jurors and bribed her with a huge amount of money if she could orchestrate a manslaughter verdict. Sure enough, the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of manslaughter. With tears of gratitude in his eyes, the young thug managed a moment with the said juror before being led away to serve 15 years. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he gushed. “How did you ever get them to do it?” The juror admitted, “It wasn’t easy. They all wanted to acquit you.” Friend, mark this down — God wants to acquit you! And He will do so when you place your faith in Christ, give Him your heart in love and obey His blessed gospel (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-38; Acts 22:16; Hebrews 5:8-9; Ephesians 2:8-10). You may be outside God’s will — but you are never outside His desire and ability to forgive and save you. God really does want to acquit you!
“God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” – 1 Tim.2:4
Dan Gulley, Smithville TN