People are always looking for purpose. They want to know why they are here. As Christians, we know we are here to worship and serve God and to fulfill His Will. How do we fulfill His Will? We let Christ live through us, and we seek to emulate the attributes of our Saviour. Satan loves to put roadblocks in our way as we seek to serve our Lord. I Peter 5:8-9 speaks of the devil as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He will do everything he can to keep us defeated.
One of the quickest ways to stay defeated is to harbor hatred or unforgiveness in our lives. When unforgiveness festers, it grows into bitterness and becomes hatred. When we allow this sin into our lives, it prevents us from loving others with an unconditional love. We must learn to forgive others to show others Christ’s love.
To completely forgive another person, it is essential to understand the lengths God went to to grant us forgiveness. God created man to worship Him and bring Him pleasure. When man sinned, God could have said, “You are hopeless. I will need to start over.” Instead, He had a plan for our redemption. Of course, man’s sin did not take Him by surprise. God’s Son stepped up and volunteered to be our redemption. Jesus had a choice in the decision. His love is boundless. I can only imagine the hurt we have caused our Heavenly Father over the years since He created the earth. I know how much I fail Him every day.
Thinking about all of the sins of the world is overwhelming. Jesus paid for every bad thought, every lie, and every murder ever committed or ever will be committed on earth. Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, was to be the payment for our sins. He watched His Son be beaten and spit upon. God watched Him hang on a cruel cross in pain. He had to turn His back on Him when all past, present, and future sin was placed on Him. And with that in mind, He promises to forgive our sins and remember them no more. How can we reject His forgiveness?
We cannot earn God’s forgiveness. He has been sinned against by the very humans He created. He loves us with an unsurmountable amount of love. But God cannot let us into Heaven because He pities us or has compassion. We cannot spit into the face of God’s precious gift. God’s love is the entire reason for Christ’s mission on earth and His redeeming work. We must be willing to ask Jesus to save us. It is the only way to obtain God’s mercy.
Our sins and our failures will sometimes make us feel unforgivable. God went to great lengths to be sure everyone willing to come to Him would be forgiven. We must remember that our forgiveness is not based on who we are but on God and the magnitude of who He is. As a lost person, the gift of salvation is here for the taking. We must sincerely ask Jesus to come into our lives and forgive our sins. We must also have a willing heart to change.
In Luke 18, two men were praying in the temple. Both men had come to offer sacrifices for their sins. One man was arrogant and wanted everyone to know how good he was. The other man, the publican, was humbled by the very thought of his sin. This man wanted God’s forgiveness because he wanted fellowship with God. He was willing to bring his sins to the altar and confess them to God. The first man thought he could come to God by his good works. The only way to become a Christian is through true repentance.
When we ask people to forgive us, they will look for some sign that we are sincere. We want to see repentance. Are they sorry enough? Have they suffered enough? It is not that way with the Gospel. He does not expect you to beg and plead for forgiveness. Our heavenly Father is just plain gracious and merciful. We have to ask with sincerity and truth.
Many times in the Christian walk, we feel we have blown it too far. God’s forgiveness applies to us, too. No sin is so great that we cannot return to Him and renew our commitment to Christ. We do not become perfect upon salvation. As David committed sexual sins with Bathsheba and murder, God forgave Him. In II Samuel 12, Nathan confronts David with his sin, and David repents. God has forgiven Him, and He loves him dearly, but there are consequences for David’s sin. David’s child died, and his children suffered. David never had peace in his house, along with many spiritual struggles. God does not take away the consequences. We must live with them, but we can move on with our lives and have the comfort that we are forgiven and return to the fellowship we are intended to have with Christ. David’s story brings great hope to us today that we are never unforgivable. The only unforgivable sin is rejecting God’s gift of salvation.
One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive yourself. We are told to forgive others when they sin against us. When we ask for God’s forgiveness and ask Christ to save us, He forgives us, and that settles it. Unfortunately, even though we have been forgiven, we may choose to dwell on it. We carry the guilt and the shame of our actions. We make ourselves feel better by comparing ourselves to others, but when we get still at night, we will hear the voice telling us how wicked we are. If we have asked Christ to forgive us, the voice is not His. He has forgiven us for our sins past, present, and future. We have a powerful God, and His forgiveness knows no bounds. The Bible teaches us in Jeremiah 31:34 that God remembers our sins no more. Our Heavenly Father is not forgetful. He chooses not to bring up our sins to Himself or others. When our former sins come to mind, we can choose to dwell on them, or we can fill our minds with the thoughts of our awesome God who forgave us and thank him for it. We must remember, “God’s ability to forgive is greater than our ability to forget.”
In our world, we have been taught that sin deserves punishment, and it does. The idea that there should be no penalty is foreign to us. But payment was made. Jesus paid for our sins, and He settled it. God does not look upon our guilt again. Jesus’ blood was sufficient. When we remind ourselves of the past sins of our lives, we are saying that Christ’s gift was insufficient. Although we are still accountable to earthly authorities, we are forgiven. If we sin, we can still lose rewards in Heaven at the judgment seat of Christ, but we are forgiven.
So, what are the privileges of forgiveness? First, when our sins are forgiven, we have joy unspeakable. Forgiveness sets us free to serve and worship our Lord. Secondly, we have access to God. It is awesome to think I have an audience with Almighty God any time, day or night. When everyone else deserts me, God is there. Next, the believer fears no hell. This fact alone should make us great soul winners. The closest thing to hell we will ever experience is the worst thing this world has to offer. But for the lost man, the closest thing to Heaven he will experience is this life on earth. And finally, the forgiven Christian is expecting Heaven. God’s forgiveness gives us many great gifts, but Heaven is the greatest. We can only compare it to the greatest things we experience on this earth. Earthly happiness is but a small thing compared to what our Heavenly Father has in store for us.
Isn’t it time to forgive so we can truly experience the joy of our salvation? If you haven’t accepted His gift, please do so today!
Dr. Worthington has five children and twelve grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.