Mark Maulding - Author

𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮 - 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚

When Good Friday comes, what if we can celebrate more than we realized? 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, the God-man, willingly gave Himself for us when He told His Father, “Not my will, but yours be done.”Then He went to the cross. Amazing grace was in full display that day.

For we who believe, Jesus Christ died FOR our sins. How many of those were in the future when he died on that bloody wooden cross? ALL of them, of course! Do you know how the Bible defines sin? Romans 14:23 tells us, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” Any and every moment we are not depending on God, we are sinning.

This means that as a believer in Jesus, there will never be a sin that our Heavenly Father will hold against you. He will never be angry with you. He will never turn away from you. He will never punish you. He will never leave you. You are so forgiven that before we sin the next time, Jesus’s death says, ”ALREADY FORGIVEN!” Guilt says, I did something wrong. All your guilt before God is gone!

Good Friday also means that when Jesus died on the cross, something incredible was done TO us. Shame says, I am somebody wrong. There is something wrong with me! When we were born, there was something wrong with us. We were born sinners and were spiritual zombies who were dead on the inside. Forgiveness is great, but it was not enough. God had to remove the person you were born as.

That is why the Holy Spirit wrote so clearly in Romans 6:6 and Galatians 2:20 that the dead sinner was crucified with Christ on the cross. As Jesus was dying, that person you once were was dying with him, not your body, of course. The wrong spiritual identity that defines every person died with Jesus. His death says, “NEVER COMING BACK! Shame has ended forever!

When we take time on Good Friday to remember Jesus and His cross, let’s make sure we also remember that because of our forgiveness and co-crucifixion with Him, that was the end of guilt and shame!

Mark Maulding, President and Founder
Grace Life International

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