Are we cursed because of our sins?

As I sat and listened to my daily inspirations this morning, sadness welled up inside me as I heard a preacher, who I don’t normally listen to, tell people, “The number one reason for the curses in their lives was because of anger, resentment and sin,” and then he had the nerve to have his wife say, “but God does not want you to be condemned.” All I could do was pull out my laptop and begin to write; and this is what He gave me.  

If you don’t get anything else from this blog today, know this! If you are saved, you have been redeemed from any and all curses that your sins could bring against you!

The Bible tells us in, Galatians 3:13, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoings. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

It grieves my spirit when I hear people tell others something bad that is going on in their lives is either a generational curse or because of some sin they have committed. If we as believers are still cursed even after receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior, what hope or point is there in being saved for someone who isn’t? Why should they be saved if they are still going to get cursed or worst go to hell even after being saved, just because they did something that is viewed as a sin?

The Bible tells us, according to 1 John 4:17, “As He is in this world, so am I”, and that according to Gal 3:13, He has paid the price of any curse which would be placed on me because of any and all my sins! How do I know it is any and all my sins, because ALL my sins were already future sins to Him 2000 years ago.

I ask you today, please stop, pray and ask for understanding in your Bible readings and interpretations! The price for curses due to our sinful nature has been paid and to continue telling someone that they are cursed even after they have accepted Christ is only placing guilt and condemnation on them, and according to Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!"

Yes, I hear some of you saying, but the Word of God doesn’t change and He definitely doesn’t like sin! No, the Word of God does not change and He doesn’t like sin, but according to Romans 8:34, He gave us Christ to be our intercessor. Once you are saved God no longer looks at you, but He looks at your intercessor and sees only Him in place of you! And as far the word of God not changing, God does make His Word relevant for today; let’s look at the book of Timothy. In the book of Timothy, there is a reference to slaves obeying their masters; do you believe this passage of scripture is relevant for today? The concept of obedience may be relevant, but not the nature of the relationship between slaves and masters; this relationship is no more relevant for today than the relationship between sin and curses!

So know this, we, as God’s children, are no longer under curses, generational or other-wise; believe it or not sometimes, just sometimes when things happen to us in life, it’s not because of a curse, the enemy or any other supernatural force, it’s because of our own actions!

Romans 5:20, says, “Where sin abounds, Grace much abounds, not curses!!! You have been redeemed from curses and the only things God places on His children today are His unconditional LOVE, MERCY AND yup you guessed it HIS GRACE!!!!

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube

Where sin abounds Grace much more abounds!

The Bible tells us in Romans 5: 20, “Where sin abounds, Grace much more abounds!” But let me give this scripture to you in the New Living Translation version, it really becomes potentate here, “God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant.”

Are you as “Wowed” by this scripture as I was? Paul is literally saying God provided the law only so that people could see how sinful they really were. Now understand that He wanted people to see how sinful they were not to make them shame, punish them, make them feel guilty or condemned; because if He did then He wouldn’t have said in Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” God provided the law so that we could see that we needed Him, and that without Him we would not have remission of our sins and we would be doomed to a life and death of living hell.

Now part B of Romans 5:20 is where things really get good. “But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful GRACE became more abundant!” Yes, you heard it right, the more we sin the more God’s grace is given to us. Now does this mean we should then go on and live a life of sin so that we continue to get God’s grace? In the words of Paul, “Certainly not!” Even though we are given God’s unconditional Grace, it is this grace that in turn changes a true Christian’s heart (this is called repentance) and gives them the desire to not sin against God.

Here is the catch 22 with most people; once we are saved, we then begin to think okay then so now I have to go out here and strive not sin; NO, it is not in you focusing on yourself and trying not to sin that Christ is well pleased, that is why He died, He knew you couldn’t do it in your own strength, it is when you do not have faith in Christ’s finished work that He is not pleased. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God!” You see it is not in the sinning that God is displeased with us, but it is when we display a lack of faith in Him.

Grace is such an awesome Gift from God; and the more we focus on it and receive it from God the more Freeing, and abundant our lives will become! The Bible tells us in Romans 2:4, “It is the goodness of God that brings us to repentance”. Not the focusing on, pointing of fingers or chastisement of our sins. But it is focusing on God’s goodness, His love and His mercy and His Grace that will eventually bring all to desire to not sin against Him. So I say to you without remorse in my speech, stop focusing on your sins and start focusing on God’s abundant Grace, because in the words of Paul, “Where sin abounds, Grace much more abounds!” 

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube

Why would you choose to put yourself back under the law?

How many times have you caught yourself or someone else saying? “I promise to do all that God places before me to do!” or “I have dedicated my life to doing the will of God!” or even “All that the Lord has spoken we (or I) will do.”

Well if the last statement sounds familiar it is because it is the statement that the Israelites said to Moses in Exodus 19:8 while they were at the foot of Mount Sinai. Now I’m sure the Israelites had great intentions and they probably only meant to do what they thought God wanted them to do, but without even realizing it what they did was by the words of their mouth, they took themselves out of “the Abrahamic covenant” of God’s grace and place themselves under “the covenant of the law”. Basically they held themselves to a standard that even God initially wasn’t trying to hold them too; but they spoke it and so He gave it to them.

The original Hebrew meaning for “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” is “All that God requires and demands of us we are well able to perform.” In laymen’s terms what they basically said is, “God stop blessing us based on your goodness and start judging and blessing us based on our obedience.

That’s right, what they did was by using their own words placed themselves in a position to be judged and blessed based on their performance. Sound familiar? I’m sure it does. This is what so many Christians today have done. God has given us “a way of escape”, an abundance of grace and mercy, and when you believe that God blesses you based solely on your works and your sinless life, you have chosen to stay under being blessed by what you do and not by what He has done!

Now you may ask yourself were the Israelites really under grace, I thought they had the Ten Commandments which placed them under the law? Well, yes, they were initially under Grace; think about it, they complained against God the whole journey through the wilderness which was a sin according to the Ten commandments and yet he chose to give them manna from on high, he parted the Red Sea for them, he brought fourth water out of a rock for them, and he even spared their lives as they escaped from Egypt, that’s right not one of them died during the journey. And He did all this in spite of their murmuring and complaining, wouldn’t you say that was “Nothing but the Grace of God?”

Since the people desired to be judged by God and blessed only by their obedience, then God did as He always does, obliged them, and gave them what they spoke into existence. After they spoke these words, He gave them the Ten Commandments; and it wasn’t too soon after they received the Ten Commandments that they did what we all do in our sinful humanness, broke the first one, “Thy shall have no other gods before Me,” by making a golden calf and worshipping it. What happened to that obedience?

Now do I think they did this on purpose, of course not, I truly believe they, just as so many of us do, desired to please God and be obedient to His words. But this is a symbolic picture of how important it is for us to not put our trust and faith in our own walk as Christians but to place in it Christ’s finished work at the cross!

I choose to believe that we all have a heart to want to please God and do what is right in His sight, but we are human, sin every day, and can do nothing without Him. Don’t put your faith in God blessing you based on your sinless life. Your Christian walk is supposed to be a “Walk of faith” and that faith should be in Christ and not in yourself!

God has freely given you the opportunity of a lifetime to be blessed only by receiving what He died to bring you, “Truth and Grace”. Why would you want to put the blessing of your life back in your own hands? The gift of GRACE is yours for the taking all you have to do is receive it! Take His gift of GRACE, RECEIVE and begin to LIVE LIFE AND LIVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY! Choose to BE BLESSED BY HIS ACTIONS AND NOT YOUR OWN!

Forever In His GRACE!

Toinette Neube  

Let the Grace of God justify you!

Romans 8:33 33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Some people see God as a judge who has exacting demands on man. When they fall short or when things go wrong in their lives, they think that God is judging them. My friend, the truth is that if you are a believer, God does not bring any charge against you. Instead, He justifies you because of the blood of His Son. In fact, God’s Word goes on to say that the One who has the right to condemn you, chose instead to die for you and is risen at the Father’s right hand to be your righteousness! (Romans 8:34) But what the devil tries to do is to get you to believe that God watches you with a critical eye and punishes you when you do wrong. He has deceived many sincere Christians into believing that if they have done something wrong, sickness or some other evil thing has a right to come upon them and their families. And when these things happen, he convinces them that they are suffering God’s judgment because of their wrongdoings. In the meantime, these sincere Christians struggle with condemnation because they think that they are the cause of their problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ever since the cross, where Jesus was judged in your place for every one of your wrong actions, thoughts and words, God no longer judges you, His child. You need not accept condemnation or evil things happening to you because Jesus took all your punishment at the cross. So when you start to feel condemned for your actions or when you experience negative circumstances, say, “It is written: It is God who justifies me. I am completely forgiven and made righteous before Him. I refuse to accept any condemnation and I reject every symptom of the curse that I am seeing in my circumstances!” Then, simply stand on the truth (and the Grace) of God’s Word, and watch Him deliver and bless you! Forever In His Grace! Toinette Neube

Prince, J., (2013). Singapore.