Thought For Today - December 13
God's Promises of Forgiveness
By: Robert A. Searles
"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 sins and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4: 10
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will he Keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103: 8-12
"I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will remember thy sin no more." Isaiah 43:25
"And he (Jesus) spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he cometh home, he called together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me: for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." Luke 15:3-7
God has promised in his word that if we will agree with him, and acknowledge that we have sinned and fallen short of his glory, he will forgive all our sin and remember them no more.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John 1:9
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,and in whose spirit there is no guile." Psalm 32:1,2
God's promises of forgiveness are sure and steadfast because God is true and cannot lie, but for us to be forgiven we must ask, and by faith receive God's promises.
David tells us in Psalm 32:4-5 - "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah! I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
What can wash away our sin?
"Almost all things are, by the law p;urged with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission."Heb 9:22
God is so willing and anxious to offer forgiveness to those who would believe and ask in faith, and turn away from their sin (repent) and receive pardon, that he offered himself as the perfect lamb whose blood must be shed for their redemption. The only thing that can cleanse us from our sin is the divine blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So, there being no other remedy for the sin nature that is inherent in all of us, -in order for him to keep his promise of forgiveness to all who will receive it, -he who is invisible, and no man has seen his face at any time, offered himself in the person of Jesus Christ who was with God the father from the foundation of the world according to the gospel of John chapter 1
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
From the moment of his birth in Bethlehem, the event which we are celebrating at this season of the year, his purpose in coming to earth was to offer himself as the perfect, sinless lamb of God, to suffer, bleed and die to shed his divine blood for the propitiation of the sin of all of us who will believe, and by faith receive.
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Isaiah 53:7
No one needs to be lost and separated from God forever in hell. God has promised to forgive all our sins, past, present, and future through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I invite you to believe, and receive all that God has promised us in his word if you have not already done so.
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