Forgiveness

3Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,

who, O Lord, could ever survive?

4 But you offer forgiveness,

that we might learn to fear you.

5 I am counting on the Lord;

yes, I am counting on him.

I have put my hope in his word.

Psalm 130:3-5

 As I ponder God's forgiveness this morning, I am left in awe and wonder.  There is just so much that can be said about God's forgiveness it's almost too overwhelming to know where to start.  So as best as my finite little mind can fathom, a good start would take us to the foot of the cross.  

And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’" Luke 24:46-48

At the cross, we find Jesus, the Son of God securely nailed in place.  But it isn't the nails that have fastened Him to that cross.  No, He is the Son of God with all the power and glory of God as His command, He could have come down off of that cross.  Instead, He chose not to.  No, what pinned Him to the cross was our sins.  And though He could rescue Himself, He choose not to for our sake. Somone had to pay the price for our sins.  The payment for sin is death.  The only way to atone for sin was by blood.  So He chose to pay for our sins.  "In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22  Jesus took that payment upon Himself, though He was perfect and without sin.  Without His shedding of blood, there would be no forgiveness! 

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  Acts 2:38

God made a way to reconcile man to Himself...through the cross.  However, in order to receive that forgiveness requires several things of us.  First, we must acknowledge before God that we are sinners.  We must make a commitment to Him that we will turn away from sin.  We must ask God to forgive us of our sins - to clean us up on the inside, making us pure before Him.  The only way that can be done is by asking Jesus Christ to become our Lord and Savior - to surrender ourselves to Him and follow Him.  We can not clean up ourselves, nor can we make ourselves pure.  Only Christ can do that.   When we seek God's forgiveness and surrender our hearts to Jesus Christ, God forgives and 'forgets' our sin!  This is our salvation! 

Forgiveness is available to all who seek Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior.  God is love.  It is in His wonderful nature to have compassion on us and offer forgiveness.  There are so many aspects to God's forgiveness.  As I read through many passages on forgiveness, here a some that stood out to me most.  These passages shed light on why God forgives, how often He forgives, and what our response should be to His forgiveness.

1.  God forgives us for His Honor!  For the honor of your name, O Lord,forgive my many, many sins.  Psalm 25:11

2.  God GENEROUSLY forgives!  He is the GOD of INFINITE chances and has not limitation on forgiveness!  "Let the wicked change their waysand banish the very thought of doing wrong.Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.  Isaiah 55:7

3.  He FORGIVES ALL our sins, no matter how terrible they are!  "Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,you forgive them all."  Psalm 65:3

4.  God is READY to forgive and help you!  He's just waiting on you to seek forgiveness!  "O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help."  Psalm 86:5

5.  He forgives so that we may learn to fear Him!  This means to fear Him as in honoring, revering, worshipping, adoring, loving, and living for Him!  But you offer forgiveness,that we might learn to fear you.  Psalm 130:4
6.  He FORGIVES and FORGETS!  Oh, what joy for thosewhose disobedience is forgiven,whose sin is put out of sight!  Psalm 32:1
7.  Because He forgives us, we should forgive others.  “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."  Matthew 6:14-15

God is a loving, compassionate, forgiving god.  He isn't interested in how many times you've messed up or how bad.  He's interested in YOU.  He desires nothing more than to have a relationship with you.  He is the God of INFINITELY many chances.  He knows you inside out.  He knows all of your most intimate of details - even those you don't recognize yourself.  Completely surrender to Him today.  He isn't out to punish you for messing up, He's out to forgive you and love on you.  You only need to recognize your need for Jesus Christ, His forgiveness, and say, "I'm sorry, forgive me! Come into my heart, Lord Jesus and help me!" 

He WILL forgive.  But it's up to you to ask.

In His Love, Cathy