The Psalm 34 Challenge Day 22

Psalm 34:22, “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

Consider this: This is the best news you will ever hear!

I’ve had the joy of seeing lives transformed by God.

A young woman had committed adultery. As a result of a one-night stand, she was infected with the HIV virus which developed into AIDS. She longed for the pleasure of sin for a moment. That momentary pleasure was now demanding her life. “Evil slays the wicked!” Her body became frail. She was sick all the time. When I first met her she looked like skin painted on a skeleton. A Christian neighbor shared the gospel with her. She learned that Jesus Christ died on the cross for her sins and that He would forgive her sins if she would trust in the LORD for His salvation. She longed to be free from her burden of guilt and shame. She repented of her sin and trusted the LORD as her Savior. The LORD redeemed her and freed her from condemnation. One day she came to my house and I saw that she was troubled. I asked her “why?” She said, “Is my sin really gone?” I showed her Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” I asked her “Where does east end? And where does west end?” She realized that God had removed her sin (and the punishment for her sin) an infinite distance away from her and it was gone forever. Peace came over her. The worry turned into a smile. The LORD saves sinners! That’s the good news!

Can God save immoral people? Yes, He can! All of the fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, and sodomites we read about yesterday in 1 Corinthians 6:9 are candidates for God’s love, forgiveness, and salvation.

When Krista and I were in the Christian publishing business, our postal carrier stopped every day to pick up our mail packages. We would bring out hand trucks full of boxes. One day she asked me “What are you sending out?” I told her “We are Christians and we publish Christian books and ship them all over the world.” She began asking very perceptive questions and it turned out she was also a Christian. I asked her, “How did you come to know the LORD?” She said, “I was very much into the homosexual lifestyle. I was a lesbian. One day a friend of mine asked me to come to church with her and I hesitated, thinking that I would not be accepted. But I went. And the preacher talked about how sin separates us from God and that the wages of my sin is death, but that God offers the free gift of salvation to everyone who believes in His Son. He taught that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him might be saved. I knew I was a sinner, and that my lifestyle was my sin of choice and I wanted to be free of the guilt, the shame, and the pending judgment. I now believed that Jesus died on the cross for me and I could be redeemed by Him. Today, I am free.” Those who trust in Him shall not be condemned! She now reaches out to the homosexual community sharing with them how they can be saved and delivered from their sin.

A middle-aged couple walked into our church one day and sat right in front of me. We struck up a conversation and I learned that they were not saved. It became obvious that they were like so many couples who were completely consumed with getting ahead in life. What did they need? Just a little bit more. In their pursuit of wealth, they were ignoring Heaven’s Treasure – the Lord Jesus Christ. I invited them to a Bible study. It was through the study that they came to realize that they were sinners who desperately needed Jesus Christ as their Savior. They wanted their sins forgiven. They wanted to be free from the guilt of their sin. And the LORD saved them. Those who trust in Him will not be condemned.

The list of sins we wrote out yesterday from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 said that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. And, for those sinners, it sounds like that is their final verdict and condemnation is certain. But the very next verse says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

What changed? Some of those sinners became convicted of their sins, repented of them, and trusted in Jesus Christ. He forgave their sins and redeemed them to Himself. They were washed from the guilt of their sins through the precious blood of Christ. The same can be true for you.

“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (Isaiah 1:18).

They are now sanctified – This means they were set apart to God and set apart from evil. Evil lost its grip on them and the Lord gives them daily help to turn from their sins. And they were justified – This means that God Himself declares the sinner to be righteous based on the finished work of Christ on the cross. They were condemned, but Jesus was condemned in their place. “None of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”

I remember the day my oldest son came to know the LORD as his Savior. He tells the story best, but he was living a wayward lifestyle. Evil had gripped his heart, but the LORD finally got his attention. At church one Sunday morning he reached out to the preacher after his message and poured out his heart to the LORD and asked forgiveness for his sins and trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior.

That night he came to talk to us and he poured out the story of his sinful lifestyle and left nothing to the imagination. He was clearly ashamed of his life choices. He told us how he had repented of his sin and trusted in the LORD for salvation that morning. He stopped talking and just looked at us. How would we respond? What would we say? What would happen next?

I looked at him and said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Emotions overwhelmed him as he understood the verse and he sobbed tears of great joy. “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned” (Psalm 34:22).

What happened to the people in these stories can happen to you, too. Your sins can be forgiven. Your death sentence can be overturned and if you trust in Him you will not be condemned!

How can you be saved? “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

The good news is that all sin can be forgiven – even yours! Turn from your sin and trust in Him today.

Psalm 34:22, “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”