Read: Isaiah 44:1-5

Do you ever wonder if Jesus died for you, if you are actually forgiven? This is something that many people struggle with. Even God’s people in Jesus’ day didn’t believe. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost that they believed. That was fifty days after Jesus had died. They had all those days to think about Jesus’ death, but they didn’t believe that he had died to save them until after they received the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah had prophesied about the coming of the Holy Spirit: “I will pour My Spirit on your descendants.” The Lord knew that the Israelites would keep wanting to be like the nations around them. And so the Lord promised them that he would send his Spirit to help them. With the Holy Spirit they would be able to fight against sin.

You have the Holy Spirit as well. The Holy Spirit lives in your heart too. You have been baptized, and at your baptism the Holy Spirit promised to sanctify you. This means that he promised to help you fight against all those sins in your life and to live a life which is holy and pleasing to the Lord.

Most people can see by the way you speak and by the way you act that you are different to the people around you who do not believe in Jesus. And that difference is because you have the Holy Spirit in you. With the Holy Spirit working in you, you are able to serve the Lord. Of course you will still fall into sin. But with the work of the Spirit in you, you are sorry for your sins, and you want to fight against them. You ask the Lord for forgiveness, and you continue to serve the Lord.

So you don’t need to wonder whether you are actually forgiven. Of course you are! God promised you that at your baptism, and the Holy Spirit helps you to live close to the Lord. Thank the Lord for this promise, and continue to live as God’s child.

Source: Sermon by Rev. A. van Delden