After Thanksgiving was over and we had given thanks for everything we could think of (including Black Friday when we got a good start on our Christmas shopping), I began to ponder what I was thankful for more than anything else. What popped up in my head was forgiveness of sin. My sins are forgiven. I don’t need to carry them anymore. They have been removed. Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
I try to remember to confess my sins often and to believe that God forgives them.
Some years ago, a friend asked me to pray for her so that she could know that a special sin she had committed had been forgiven. She told me that she had prayed 1 John 1:9 again and again, but she did not feel forgiven. Of course, the simple answer was that she must believe what Jesus said. She had confessed her sin, and now she needed to believe she was forgiven. Really believing would make her feel forgiven.
Forgiveness is different from pardon. We have recently heard of a president who pardoned his son for some crimes that would have sent him to jail. It did not cost the president who pardoned his son anything. He did not go to jail in place of his son. On the other hand, it cost Jesus his life to forgive us. Jesus took our “crimes” on himself and died for them so that we can go free. That’s what substitutionary atonement means.
So, the Thanksgiving holiday is over, but I want to remember to be thankful for forgiveness of sin every day—maybe every hour!
No comments:
Post a Comment