Every person desires absolute forgiveness. We know that there is something wrong within all of us. We struggle with our past mistakes and sins. Guilt eats away at us. Shame cripples us. The water of our life is dried up by the heat of our sin.
What have you been struggling with lately? What have you been anxious about? What have you been ashamed of? What unconfessed sins have been eating away at your soul?
There is hope in the Lord. If we confess our sins and repent, then the Lord will forgive us of all our transgressions. Every sin will be covered. Our iniquity will not be counted against us.
Psalm 32, the psalm we looked at this past Sunday, calls the forgiven person blessed. We are blessed if we repent and trust in the Lord. How is this full and free forgiveness possible?
It’s because of Christ. He was forsaken so that we may be forgiven. He was the One completely naked on the cross for our sin so that we may be covered. He was the Living Water that dried up, leading him to say, “I thirst,†so that we may be full.
God does not count our iniquity against us, because He counted every single one of them against Christ. Every past, present, and future sin of ours has been forgiven.
So… what does the forgiveness of Jesus do for us? Where does it lead us?
It leads us to proclaim it to the world. The psalmist has done it in our passage. Not only that, but we see in Scripture that it leads us to confess our sins and forgive one another.
We can confess, because we know that Christ has taken on all our sin. We can be honest in our confession, because that leads us to be honest about our salvation.
We can forgive one another, because we have been forgiven. We have been liberated from keeping a record of wrongs. We have been liberated from taking justice into our own hands. We have been liberated to have others experience the forgiveness of Christ.
Have you shared this message of forgiveness lately? Have you confessed your sins to the Lord and with your neighbor? Have you forgiven others as you have been forgiven? May we live in the fullness of peace and joy that comes with the forgiveness of Christ.
If you’re interested in learning more about this forgiveness, come out to Friday Night Studies @7:30pm in the Conference Room. If not, see you all for our Sabbath worship on Sunday.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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