Free Your Foundation in Christ (Victory Series Book #3): Live By the Power of the Spirit by Neil T. Anderson Page A

although we are from many different nations, the fact that we have all repented of our sins and accepted a common mind gives those who have repented one doctrine and one faith. When there is a soul and heart common to all believers, then they are called one people.
    Didymus the Blind (AD 313–398)

Session Five
Freedom of Forgiveness
    O nce, I held in my tightly clinched fist . . . ashes. Ashes from a burn inflicted on my 10-year-old body. Ashes I didn’t ask for. The scar was forced on me.
    For 17 years the fire smoldered. I kept my fist closed in secret, hating those ashes yet unwilling to release them. Not sure if I should. Not convinced it was worth it. Marring the things I touched and leaving black marks everywhere. I tried to undo it all, but the ashes were always there to remind that I couldn’t.
    I really could not. But God could! His sweet Holy Spirit spoke to my heart one night in tearful desperation. He whispered, “I want to give you beauty for your ashes, the oil of joy for your mourning, and the garment of praise for your spirit of heaviness.” I had never heard of such a trade as this. Beauty for ashes? My helpless and hurting emotions for His ever constant peace?
    How could I be so stubborn as to refuse an offer such as this? So, willingly—yet in slow motion and, yes, while sobbing—I opened my bent fingers and let the ashes drop to the ground. In silence, I heard the wind blow them away. Away from me . . . forever. I am now able to place my open hands gently around the fist of another hurting soul and say with confidence, “Let them go. There really is beauty beyond your comprehension. Go ahead—trust Him. His beauty for your ashes.”
    Daily Readings
1. The Ministry of Reconciliation
Leviticus 3:1–17
2. Be at Peace With Each Other
Mark 9:42–50
3. Seeking the Forgiveness of Others
Luke 7:36–50
4. Forgiving Others
Ephesians 4:29–32
5. Forgiving From the Heart
Matthew 18:21–35

1 The Ministry of Reconciliation
    Leviticus 3:1–17
    Key Point
    We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
    Key Verses
    All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
    2 Corinthians 5:18–19
    A ll the animal sacrifices prescribed under the Old Covenant in passages such as Leviticus 3:1–17 are no longer needed under the New Covenant. Christ, who died once for all, has become our sin offering (see Hebrews 10:10). We fulfill the burnt offering when we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (see Romans 12:1). The fellowship offering—which was given in voluntary gratitude for past blessings, answered prayer or a bountiful harvest—now pictures thefellowship we have with God on the basis of Christ’s death on the cross. It has traditionally been called the “peace offering” because the root Hebrew word, shalom , means “peace.”
    We worship with thanksgiving and praise because we have been reconciled to God, who has made us new creations in Christ. As members of the Body of Christ, we have been reconciled to God. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:18–20).
    Christians are ambassadors of Christ and ministers of reconciliation. We are witnesses of Christ’s resurrection because we are new creations in Christ and have His resurrected life within us. In the power of the Holy Spirit, we say to all who will listen, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (verse 20). Like God, we don’t count their sins