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Forgiveness And New Life

We read, in Matthew 9:2, of the forgiveness of sins. This is followed, in Matthew 9:6, by the words that brought healing to the paralyzed man. When we read about Jesus' healing miracles, we must also remember the healing that comes to us through the forgiveness of our sins. The healing of our lives begins here. From this beginning - the forgiveness of our sins, we move on to the healing of our lives, which takes place when we look to the Lord to take the brokenness of our lives and put everything back together again. This is followed by Matthew's own story. He receives the forgiveness of his sins. From the conversion of Matthew, the message that comes to us is this: Jesus "came to call sinners" (Matthew 9:13).  We come to Jesus - with our sins. We receive from Him - our salvation. At the heart of our salvation is this great message: God does more for us than forgiving our sins. He gives us new life - described here as "new wine" (Matthew 9:17).
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