Forgiveness of Sins
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins …” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home” (Mark 2:10-11).
The first thing God wants to do for us is to give us his gift of grace and forgiveness. Even among the people of God, I find a lot of people who live with great guilt. We will never develop into what God wants us to be until we find out what it means to have God’s forgiveness.
That forgiveness is a gracious gift that we can never earn. In fact, there is nothing we can do to receive it except to take it from his hand in repentant faith.When we have accepted his gift, we are on our way to grace and growth.
The story of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof illustrates this beautifully. This man’s friends brought him to Jesus for physical healing, but Jesus knew what the man’s real need was, so he said to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Everyone thought Jesus was sidetracked from the real issue of physical healing, but Jesus was the only one who saw the problem clearly.
The forgiveness of our sins is the doorway into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Tragically, I have seen some people who cannot accept this gift. But we will never know any further growth or grace until we can say that our sins are nailed to his cross and that we are forgiven and free.
—Dennis Kinslaw
This Day with the Master
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And in being forgiven, there is real blessing to be experienced. King David knew this firsthand: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5). Our sins require our attention. When David kept silent, he bore the weight of his unconfessed sin. When he spoke up and acknowledged them, he experienced forgiveness and relief—he summed it up as a blessing. Make confession a regular part of your prayer life. When there are occasions of sin you recall, own them. pray, as David did: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:22, 23). —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics