Table of Contents
A blessed assurance
As we realize that without forgiveness we are lost, if we have repented and we have confessed our sin, how blessed is the assurance then that “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Even though we may have departed very far from God, we cannot have been too far for him to reach us with his mercy. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.
Even the last sinner is not excluded. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” Psalm 103:13.
God can forgive our sins
We should not think that God cannot forgive us. We must believe that the victory lies in the simple acceptance of his Word. We read his own promise and it cannot be untrue.
“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? (…) Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die… Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Ezek. 18:23-31.
God desires to forgive us
“Because He delights in mercy” (Micah 7:18), in forgiving the repentant sinner. He longs to save them that have wandered away. He sends his Spirit and invites us to return. The goodness of God leads us to repentance. Romans 2:4. He tells us that all day he is stretching his hands and asking his children to return. How many people consider him to be a cruel tyrant who records all wrongs of men with the sole aim of bringing punishment upon them?
O, if we would know God as one whose only desire is to bring gladness to every one of his creatures, who longs, with all his heart, to bring us to eternal life, who through the gift of Jesus has “removed the partition wall” and has made a provision for the salvation of each prodigal son – this would make repentance a joy.
Hope amid despair
Is there for the sin-laden heart which sees before it only despair and sorrow, a word that is more precious than the word “forgiven”? To know that you have been forgiven, that you stand faultless before the throne of God, that the divine sacrifice has been made for your sins, brings you peace and joy. When you know that every sin of yours that has been separating you from God has been removed and to have the assurance of his Spirit that you are accepted and fully reconciled to God, how easy is then the path that is left for you to go?
The love of self has been removed; nothing can dissuade you from your determination to fully obey the good will of God and you are ready to do all that is required of you. Continually led by his Spirit, you accept as a guiding thought in your life the prayer of our Savior, that was uttered in the most terrible moments of his life: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42.
And so, repentance, confession, and forgiveness prepare the way for the higher life. Bringing us to a covenant with our Lord, they place us where God can give us peace, where God can take us by the hand and lead us to the final victory.
This life is a preparation for the eternal life
Therefore instead of considering repentance to be a hard experience, we must look beyond the immediate pain and humility, beyond the shame and sorrow for our deviation from the right, beyond the need to give up our cherished sinful habits, and see the opening of a new way, the outshining of a brighter experience – victory.
The battles that necessarily accompany true repentance and the separation from our sinful past lives are only the predecessors of a victorious life. The sacrifices that we need to make in departing from the pleasures of sin and selfish habits are only the opening of the door for the treasures of love in Christ Jesus. Repentance and confession are bitter but they are not humiliating.
True courage and manhood are required for us to acknowledge our errors. But instead of humiliating us, confession makes us stronger and more precious to God.
We can give only that which we have
Only those who have been ready to humble themselves before God and before their neighbor, can give a helping hand to those that have stumbled and fallen.
We are given the gracious promise: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:14.
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord…” Acts 3:19.
“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 10:17
Only when we have found the way to the loving Savior for ourselves, we can direct others to him, to point to others the way to hope and light, to confession and forgiveness, to the glorious change from condemnation to a victorious life.
Thus we can constantly praise God that he sends us his Holy Spirit to help us return from our deviations, that he is leading us to repentance with his loving kindness, that in his gentle mercy he grants us full forgiveness and that his loving heart has not reserved anything but that he gave all that we might find life in him and to have it abundantly. John 10:10.