The following post is part of a series about the importance of Locking Arms as we journey together in life. You can see the original post here. Today’s post is from Locking Arms Team Leader Joe Goldcamp.
Enter Joe:
“It’s not just that the Cross did something for us. Something deep and profound happened to us in the death of Christ. Remember—the heart is the problem. God understands this better than anyone and he goes for the root. God promised in the new covenant to “take away your heart of stone.” How? By joining us to the death of Christ, our nature was nailed to the cross with Christ; we died there, with him, in him. Yes, it is a deep mystery—“deep magic” as Lewis called it—but that does not make it untrue. “The death he died, he died to sin once for all . . . In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin” (Rom. 6:10–11). Jesus was the Last Adam, the end of that terrible story.
You’ve been far more than forgiven. God has removed your heart of stone. You’ve been delivered of what held you back from what you were meant to be. You’ve been rescued from the part of you that sabotages even your best intentions. Your heart has been circumcised to God. Your heart has been set free.” – John Eldredge, Waking The Dead.
I received the passage above from John Eldredge’s book, “Waking the Dead” today. We read the book together in my huddle group of brothers two years ago and loved it. It was in my study of Romans however that the power of being set free from my sin came to me. The Romans 6:10-11 verse Eldredge quotes was a centering focus for me. His commentary on it is worth passing along especially when we grasp its power for us. If you are feeling trapped by a recurring sin; if you have tried so hard to overcome it but continue to fall to its grasp, then Satan has you right where he wants you. He is patient and cruel and will rejoice in your torture and suffering.
We have a solution. It’s so simple it’s unbelievable. It’s beyond logic and reasoning. All it takes is FAITH. Faith in the one true God that loved us so much he sacrificed His one and only begotten Son to pay the price for that recurring sin. I confess, I don’t think I could do that. As you all know I have only one son, and I don’t think I could do that. I pray that God never asks me. But our God DID it. He did it so our hearts would be set free through Christ’s sacrifice for our sins in the cross. He set our hearts free through his victory over sin, death and even Satan himself. I have experienced it firsthand. I have experienced victory over a recurring sin in my life through Jesus power in the cross and his presence by the Spirit in my life.
Today, I am having a really crappy day with work related failures that really bring me down. But I know that God will not abandon me and I will make it through on His strength and my faith in Him. I want each and every one of you to feel His love, His power over your failures and that special FREEDOM that comes from knowing that He is with you. Faith in God may not turn all your failures into success but it will help you through it and it will build you into something that may surprise you. God promises to make all things work together for good for those that believe in Him and who are called according to his purpose.
-Joe Goldcamp
Excerpt from: Waking The Dead: The Glory Of A Life Fully Alive by John Eldredge