How can I know that God forgives me?
Forgiveness, One of Gods greatest gifts. Through the mercy of God we are given forgiveness.
But how can we know that God has forgiven us for our sins?
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes,what Joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
God wants to forgive sinners. Forgiveness has always been part of his loving nature. He announced it to Moses, he revealed it to David, he dramatically showed it to the world through Jesus Christ. "He forgives disobedience, puts sin out of sight, and clears our record of guilt." Paul quoted these verses in Romans 4:7-8and showed that we can have this joyous experience of forgiveness through faith in Christ.
"Come now, let's settle this,"
says the Lord.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool."
Crimson was the colour of a deep red permanent dye. It's deep stain was virtually impossible to remove from clothing. The stain of sin seems equally permanent, but God can remove sin's stain from our life as he promised. We don't have to go through life permanently soiled. God's Word assures us that if we are willing and obedient, Christ will forgive and remove our most darkest stains.
"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."
Confession is suppose to free us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It should ease our conscience and lighten our cares. God wantsto forgive us. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could offer us pardon. When we come to Christ, he forgives all the sins we committed or will ever commit. We don't need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and we don't need to fear that God will reject us if we don't keep our slate clean. Of cause we should continue to confess our sins, but not because failure to do so will make us lose our salvation.
Our relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, we should confess so that we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him. True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn't be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again and just wanted temporary forgiveness. We should pray for strength to defeat our temptation the next time we face it.
Remember James 1:12"God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
Then he says,
"I will never again remember
their sins and lawless deeds."
God will never again remember our sins. Christ forgives completely. As believers, we can be confident that the sins we confess and renounce are forgiven and forgotten.
Go now Brothers and sisters knowing that our God forgives you and loves you.
Amen
Created over 1 year ago
