What would you give to know forgiveness, to know there is nothing against you, or to know that you are clean before God? 

Memories of the wrongs we have done in the past haunt us. Do you hear the whispers, “You are guilty. You committed a terrible thing.”

Maybe they aren’t whispers, maybe they are shouts and screams in your mind that torment you whenever the memories come to mind. I think even believers, born-again Christians, struggle with knowing they are forgiven. 

Guilt

Are you carrying around a heavy load of guilt? Maybe you try to bury it, forget it for a while hoping to feel more forgivable? We feel bad about behavior, sins past, sins present. Meanwhile, life always has a cloud over it. Our life is not sunny. We don’t live under the smiling face of God.  Ps. 89:15

We all need forgiveness. All. Everyone. No one is exempt. All need forgiveness.  Even people that think they do fairly well feel a twinge of guilt when thinking of standing before the Lord God Almighty. It is built in us, because we come from the same DNA as our first father, Adam. Cut off from God, knowing something is fundamentally wrong. It is not intellectual. It does not make sense. But it is still there.

Why do we need forgiveness? We have sinned, become stained, unholy. God, the holy one, reaches out to us, the unholy, with forgiveness. It is no light matter for Him to forgive. It cost Him dearly. His Son earned forgiveness for us. He paid the price that we might be forgiven. 

Gift of forgiveness

One of the gifts from God is forgiveness, but it is only for those who call on the Lord. Forgiveness needs to be asked for and received in a definite transaction between a person and God.

In the New Testament, God instructed Paul to preach it. “That they might receive forgiveness” Acts 26:18. Receiving something without earning it, is a humbling experience. We like to earn something. God wanted humans to receive His forgiveness. Not something earned because not all would be able to earn it.

When we sin, we sin against God. Period. Yes, it affects others. But, it is essentially our insisting on not submitting to God and instead, doing what we want. David expressed it so clearly in Psalm 25 and 51. He knew what it felt like to be weighed down with guilt. 

He says, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.  I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.” Psalm 38:4, 18. 

Basis for forgiveness

God doesn’t base our forgiveness on our character, the badness of our sin, nor on how we’ve tried to atone for it by doing good. It is not based on how good we are in every other area of our lives. Nor does it have anything to do with how sorry we are. It has nothing to do with us. 

We will never deserve forgiveness. And no sin is too bad. Jesus’ blood is enough. That is what God looks on, not the sin, but the blood of Jesus. 

Have you received His forgiveness? We tend to think that forgiveness is something that is earned or somehow deserved. But, forgiveness from God does not come that way.  It is totally unearned. It is totally free.

Nor is He reluctant to forgive. Again David speaks of God’s forgiveness in Psalm 86:5 which says, “For You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” Did you catch that little three-letter word? All. All who call.

The Old Testament reveals God’s forgiveness in Isaiah 43:25. “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

What have you received from God this past week? Have you received forgiveness? 

Words to light your path this week

• Psalm 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!   ESV
• Psalm 32:1-5 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah ESV
• Psalm 38:18  I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. ESV
• Psalm 51:1-4,10   Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ESV  

Prayer, O God, You are quick to forgive. You abound in mercy. Help us to quickly confess our wrongs so we can receive Your forgiveness. Amen

Forgiveness – Matthew West

Breaking Free From the Tortures of UnForgiveness – Aaron Kim