If Her Sins are Forgiven, are not Mine?

I often think about that Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well.

What was it like for her? She had a shameful history; a tainted past. Not socially accepted by her peers. Rejected. Deemed an adulteress by many. A sinner destined for eternal separation from God.

She sets her plans for the day. It’s high noon, the sun is hot and while others are resting through the heat of the day, she heads to the well. It’s a daily trip made usually in the coolness of the morning, a social part of a woman’s day. But for her it’s not. For her it was a dreaded part of her day. It was a time she chose to be alone rather than shamed.

Arriving at the well she notices a man seated and resting. It’s a Jewish man; it’s Jesus. She’s quiet and keeps to herself. She is well aware of the social differences between the Samaritans and the Jews. She anticipates the direction their conversation, if any, will go.

Jesus, tired and thirsty after a long journey, having no means to draw water, asks the Samaritan woman for a drink of water.

Imagine what she is thinking, a Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. She is shocked. She is defensive. Is He mocking her?

Jesus continues in conversation, sharing with her “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He is offering her unconditional Love, something she is not familiar with. He offers her forgiveness. He offers her Hope. He offers her a relationship with the Living God. Knowing her past. Knowing her sins. Knowing she has committed adultery time and time again. But He doesn’t care. He forgives her. He loves her.

Now overwhelmed with JOY, leaving her water pots behind, she runs back to the city to share her Good News. She is elated. She is accepted. Jesus has accepted her with all her past. All of her sins. He has offered her eternal life.

Can you imagine how she felt? The relief? The excitement? The gratitude?

I can.

It’s how I felt.

I am so thankful for that woman at the well two thousand years ago with her tainted past. God has used her story to free me from the oppression of my story.

You see, if Jesus offered her, with all of her husbands from the past, eternal life then surely He would offer the same to me.

This means the same principles are applied to the “command” in 1 Corinthians 7: 8/9 as are to the other commands in the Bible.

“To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else

be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.”

We are saved by grace not by our works. I am saved from paying the penalty of my sins because of what Christ has done, not because of what I have done. I messed up time and time again. I thought that because of this scripture, for some reason I didn’t fall under that same Grace. I was wrong and John 4: 28/39 proves it. Just like the woman at the well, I had a sinful past but through Jesus I have a Glorious future!

Can you imagine how I felt? Relieved! Excited! Thankful!

“I left my water pots at the well and I ran.”

My heart was filled with Joy!! And from that day the excitement in my heart has welled up to overflowing!

I am forgiven. My life has been restored. The enemy has no claim on me.

Me? A woman who's had five weddings, four husbands, three children, had two choices and has been freed by one Saviour.

Now, just like that woman two thousand years ago did, I'm sharing my story so others who are experiencing the same oppression that I was living under can be freed.

Check out my short book. "Powerful revelations about God's Forgiveness and Grace bringing the reader through the depths of regret and shame to the freedom of Redemption."

https://www.tellingmystory.ca/product-page/short-book-if-her-sins-are-forgiven-are-not-mine

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” John 8: 36.

Celebrate with me.

Share your testimony too.

God is so good ♥