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If I were to ask you to make a list of the things in life you truly need, you could come up with quite a list. No doubt your list would include oxygen, water, food, shelter, clothing, employment, high speed wifi, Starbucks coffee, and tacos.
But the truths is, out of all of our needs, forgiveness is the greatness. You see, the Bible informs us that we are all sinners. Sin against God is our rebellion. It’s our determination to live by our own rules. It’s a rejection of God’s standard of living, for one we feel is more convenient and more enjoyable.
Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Unless we are forgiven you and I will never have a relationship with God. Unless we are forgiven we will have to pay our own penalty for sin. Unless we are forgiven, the Bible teaches us we will spend eternity in hell. Forgiveness is our greatest need.
Sin puts an impassable barrier between us and the spiritual blessings God offers. We cannot go over that barrier or around, under, or through it. The only way to receive God's blessings is for that barrier of sin to be destroyed, and the only power in existence to destroy it is the blood of Jesus.
The good news: Acts 10:43 – “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Every single day we should wake up with gratitude on our hearts for God’s forgiveness.
What happens when we receive God’s forgiveness.
Our death sentence has been pardoned.
Because God is holy, he cannot allow sin to go unpunished. His justice demands that every sin be punished-no matter how small it may seem to us. If he were to forgive sin without proper punishment, he would cease to be holy and just. God would no longer be God because he would have denied his own character.
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is why Jesus came. Because of God’s great love for us, he sent his Son, Jesus to come and die in our place. The Bible says, he became sin for us. He took all of our sin upon himself, and he died as our sacrifice. He is our substitute. The death of Jesus satisfied God. We no longer have to die. Forgiveness is offered to us as we place our faith in Jesus as the Son of God, and as we trust the finished work of Jesus on the cross in our place.
Psalm 103:12 – “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”
2. Our guilt is removed
The kind of forgiveness Jesus offers removes our guilt. Our hearts are set free. We no longer live under the burden of condemnation. That’s why we often sing about freedom, because through forgiveness we have been set free.
Let me ask you, are you living today in right relationship with God? Are you living in willful sin? Jesus didn’t die on the cross, so that we would continue living in sin, he died to set us free from sin!
Today’s Challenge: As you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your heart. If there is sin in your life confess it. Repent of them. Ask God for daily strength to live according to his Word, to live in a way that pleases God.
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