There is a subject I have touched on in the past that I would like to expand on a bit further. I have had people, even recently, say that they have done so much evil that the Savior could never possibly forgive them. The thing is, they really don’t know my Jesus and just how powerful one drop of blood that He shed for us at Calvary actually is. Truthfully, His “human” blood was almost totally drained from Him because of the horrible torture He had to endure before being crucified. However, every drop was pure and sin-free, which no other person in history who has ever lived, or ever will live, can claim. (ESV all emphasis is mine.)

John 19:30; “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It Is Finished!’ and He bowed His head and gave up the Spirit.” At this point, He completed Hebrews 10:4: “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Sacrifices prior to Calvary had to be offered at regular intervals for the people to be in compliance with God’s will. These were never meant to be a permanent solution, as the above verse tells us.

Our Heavenly Father could only accept a one-time pure blood sacrifice from a source that lived a totally sin-free life up to that person’s death. Therefore, we read in Hebrews 10:14-18, ‘For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time, those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord; I will put My laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds’; then He adds; ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there are no longer any offering for sin.’”

When God makes a covenant, it is honored by Him for all time. One great example is Genesis 12:2-3 when He said to Abraham, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Some people don’t realize this covenant still stands today.

When God says, “I will,” you can take that covenant as being now and forever. How about Psalm 103:11-12; “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear [respect] Him; for as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

Is there any place in this covenant that says, “except for”? All sins can be forgiven if we truly confess that we have sinned, ask Jesus to forgive us our sins and be our Savior forever, and believe that He truly died on that cross in our place and was raised from the dead to conquer sin and death for us once and for all.

Please know that the Father knows very well that we will sin until we take our last breath here on this evil earth. However, as given in 1 John 1:8-10, our sins will be forgiven when we admit we have sinned and ask His forgiveness.

Understand that just because we confess and ask forgiveness, this does not mean we will be free from all consequences of our actions. Hebrews 12:6 tells us, “For the Lord disciplines the ones He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” I remember being disciplined by my parents when I messed up, but I always knew it was for my own good that they were correcting me. If they didn’t love or care for me, they would have just let me suffer the consequences from outside sources.

Hebrews 12:7 goes on to state, “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.* For what son* is there whom his father does not discipline.” Looking at Hebrews 12:11, “For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (*includes daughters)

The main issue is that everyone who still has breath in their body can be forgiven and become a part of the Savior’s precious flock if they truly seek forgiveness from Him. Peter denied the Savior, not once, but three times. Paul was a persecutor of “The Way,” which is what Christian belief was labeled, and even approved when they were being put to death. Thomas doubted the truth that Jesus had risen from the dead. These three and many others of that day were forgiven and went on to proclaim Jesus Christ is the one and true Son of the Living God. They secured a Home with Him forever.

In 1920, Anna W. Waterman had the experience of leading her husband, Charles, to the Lord. He reportedly was a heavy drinker, and she and a female friend would pray regularly for him. One night, he reportedly came home and told Anna that he needed to have Jesus in his life. She and her friend prayed with him, and he received and accepted Jesus. From that day on, he lived a changed life. Because of that experience, she wrote a song called “Yes I Know,” which has been made popular by the Gaither Vocal Band.

1.) Come Ye sinners lost and lonely; Jesus’ blood can make you free. For He saved the worst among you when He saved a wretch like me.

Ref.) And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean. And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean.

2.) To the faint, He giveth power; through the mountains makes a way. Findeth water in the desert; turns the night to golden day. (ref)

3.) In temptations, He is near thee; holds the power of hell at bay. Guides you to the path of safety; gives you grace for every day. (ref)

4.) He will keep thee while the ages roll throughout eternity. Though earth hinders and hell rages, All must work for good for thee. (refx2)

Mark 3:28:30; “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin; for they were saying ‘He has an unclean Spirit.’”

First, Christians who have truly received and accepted Jesus cannot be guilty of this. The blasphemy here is a refusal to accept the “witness” of the Holy Spirit as to who Jesus is and what He came to this earth to do. In John 16:8-11, Jesus said, “And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

This is consciously, persistently, deliberately and maliciously rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit as to the deity and saving power of the Lord Jesus. If this is not changed by their last breath, their souls will be lost forever.

The signs of rejection of anything to do with Jesus are growing stronger in this world every day. To proclaim to be a follower of Jesus is an excuse for Satan’s followers to call us “haters.” We hate no one, but we do not have to accept lifestyles our Father calls abominations.

We can just about hear the Trumpet of God and the shout coming from an archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The age we are living in fits Luke 21:28 of “things beginning to take place.” In fact, they started about a decade or so ago and are getting stronger each passing day. Our Savior could be calling all true believers up to meet Him in the air at any minute.

The key is to be ready in advance. Don’t wait any longer to ask Jesus to be your Savior, as no one is promised another day here. If you have received and accepted Him, you fall into the “Have No Fear” group.

On the other hand, if you take your last breath here without Jesus, a reservation will be automatically made for you at the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. From there, it’s into the lake of fire with Satan and his demons forever.

Play the lottery or go to a casino or whatever if you have a need to gamble. However, do not gamble with your eternal soul. Hell is for real and is nothing to joke about.

Our Heavenly Father will accept all who truly become a part of His Son’s flock. Our Savior has promised that He personally will prepare a place with Him in Heaven for all who do (John 14:1-3).

Today would not be too early to call out to our Wonderful Savior; tomorrow could just be too late. No one has sinned so greatly that His blood cannot wash you clean. Please read that sentence again.

He is ready to take your call if you’re ready to make it. Hope to see you at Home!

Maranatha! (Come, Lord Jesus!)

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I remember when I first realized that I loved to write.

I was in high school, and I had a newfound fascination with the Bible—especially Biblical prophecy—and it dawned on me that I had somehow unexpectedly developed a love for writing.

Growing up with a passion for sports, my first desire was to be a sports broadcaster—that is, if I did not make it as a professional athlete. But, come to think of it, even back then, every once in a while, I would dream of writing a sports column.

But as plans for life became more realistic and my love for Scripture became more intense, the place of writing came into much clearer focus in my life. I even thought of majoring in journalism in college.

I did not end up pursuing that path—although my life would circle completely around back to it several years later. Through an array of circumstances, I was in the place of looking for a job and found one in the news business. I ended up staying there for 14 years, working as a small-town news reporter and editor. Along with giving me the chance to do lots of writing, that time proved to be tremendously educational in my life. I learned so much about writing and editing, technology and photography, business and government, and life in general.

And the Lord used that experience to lead me through other doors that would not have been open to me apart from it. Because of my background in writing, editing, and reporting, I have had numerous opportunities to do all kinds of things in ministry that I would never have been asked to do otherwise. I also think that this background added a new dimension to my ministry—allowing me to see things from another perspective and just sharpening my skills in general.

One thing I couldn’t do much of when I was working at the newspaper, however, was to write about things just because they were of interest to me. Instead, I had to learn to be curious about the things that came across my desk that other people found interesting. I came to enjoy that as well and profited from the experience. Yet, at the end of the day, I would dream and long for the day when I could write exclusively about the things I wanted to write about—as probably every real writer does.

This weekly column is sort of the last vestige that reminds me of my old news career. But I enjoy this so much more because I do get to write about the things that I love. If you read it regularly, you know that some of my articles are lighter and personal—like this one. Some of them are devotional in quality. Then, I will write a whole doctrinal series. Others are based on interviews. I also love to write about holidays and church history.

Writing is powerful. Think about it—the greatest sermon, even if it is recorded and distributed widely, bears a fleeting quality. The words, to truly be captured, have to be written down. When something is written, there is a permanence to it.

Sometimes, I will take a sermon or a sermon series and encapsulate it into an article—providing all the Scripture references and attempting to state all my points as clearly and concisely as possible. This gives the message enduring usefulness. No one can misunderstand at least that which I have stated clearly. I can always point people to the written version for clarity, even when I am preaching on the subject.

The most essential part of writing is to have something important to say. Writing is extremely difficult when you are required to produce something and don’t really know where to begin. For good or for bad, that never seems to be much of an issue for me! But writing also brings with it a great deal of responsibility, especially in our online world. Once something is sent, it is difficult, if not impossible, to recall. Therefore, I had better be careful about what I write, and certain it is trustworthy and true (see James 3:1).

There is a real satisfaction that comes from writing something that you believe truly hits the mark in the way you intended. Ecclesiastes 12:11 states: “The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.”

One thing I love about my position with The Friends of Israel is the opportunity to minister in many different contexts and reach out to people through many different means. Going back to my childhood dreams, I’ve come full circle. I have the privilege of writing about things that I love. And, yes, I even have the opportunity to be on the radio sometimes.

God has truly blessed me with “the desires of [my] heart” (Ps. 37:4) in these ways. And He has also equipped me for the opportunity to utilize media and technology effectively—which will become even more crucial within ministry in the days ahead.

May He always help me to drive the nails in straight and flush!

***

Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.