Day 76: You Are Forgiven In Christ
In Christ, through faith, we are forgiven. Jesus has removed our sins from us. His blood has cleansed us. This means that Father God has set us free from the guilt and penalty of our sins and He will never hold our sins against us!
Matthew 26:27-28
And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Forgiveness is probably the blessing that is most often associated with Jesus’ work on the Cross. At the Last Supper, Jesus initiated the New Covenant that would be established by His blood. The “pouring out” of His blood would also be the basis for many having their sins forgiven. Forgiveness is the result of a central, “first” truth of the Gospel: Jesus died for our sins (see 1 Corinthians 15:3).
As you already know, the penalty for sin is death. Under the Old Covenant, The Law, blood is a symbol that a death has taken place in order to deal with the debt and penalty of sin. But the application of blood does something. Take note of this verse:
Hebrews 9:22
Indeed, according to the law
almost everything was purified with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
So, the Scriptures teach us that God accepts blood as a means to:
- cleanse from the impurity of sins, and
- pay the penalty required of sin (death) so that we can be set free from the debt and power of sin (forgiveness)
When Jesus first appeared for His public ministry, John the Baptist said of Him, “…Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In Ephesians 1:7 we heard, “In him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses…” The redemption that we have in Christ’s blood is the basis of our forgiveness. Again, we must never forget that what Father-God gives to us freely also cost Jesus dearly. We are forgiven because Jesus died for us.
What is Forgiveness?
The basic idea of forgiveness is simply releasing or setting someone free from a debt. In our relationship with God, when He forgives us, He is releasing us from the debt, guilt and shame of our sins. In His death on the Cross, Jesus has died in our place to pay the debt that our sins had incurred. Consider the following passage:
Colossians 2:13-15
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
God has clearly revealed in His Word what is right and wrong. We have all trespassed or transgressed—stepped over, intentionally rebelled against—these standards because we were born spiritually dead and therefore insensitive to God’s truth, goodness and glory.
Because of these trespasses, we all have a record of debt that shows not only that we are guilty of breaking the wise instruction of God, but also the penalty that is incurred by these transgressions. But God, in His great mercy, has cancelled this debt by nailing it to the Cross with Christ. He has released us from debt of our sins. He has cancelled our debt so that now we owe Him nothing as far as our sins are concerned. This is forgiveness.
Our sins are removed from us in Christ.
Notice, this is very different from what happened in the animal sacrifices. The blood of those animals only “covered” over the sins the people. Now, the blood of Christ actually provides the basis on which God actually removes or sins from us. It is amazing to discover that even David speaks about this removal of the guilt of our sins in the Psalms:
Psalms 103:7-12
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
103:9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
103:10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities (perversions).
103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
103:12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
Although David does not actually use the word “forgiveness” in this Psalm, the idea is present. Hear what David says: God does not deal with us according to what our sins deserve. He does not repay us according to the debt of our sinfulness. Instead, He removes our transgressions from us, as far as the east is from the west.
This metaphor is important. If you are traveling North on the globe, you will eventually reach the point at which you are going South. But if you travel East you will never reach the point at which you will be traveling West. East and West never meet. God removes our sins from us in such a way, that they never touch us again. This is why Paul quotes David in Romans as he says:
Romans 4:7-8
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.”
God, in Christ, has freed us from the debt of our sins so that now He deals with us according to His love and mercy and not His wrath and anger as our sins deserve. You are forgiven in Christ. Can you accept this and live free from your guilt as well?
When Jesus shed His blood on the Cross 2000 years ago, you and I did not yet exist. Not only that, but we had not committed one sin. When Jesus died for us, all of our sins were still “future sins.” On the Cross He paid the price that would release us from the debt of all of our sins. Jesus came to take away the sins of the world – all sin past, present and future. This means all your sins as well. This means that in Christ, you are released from the debt, guilt and shame of your sins and you are free to live for God’s glory and pleasure.
This blessing, as all of our other blessings, became real and experiential for you the moment you received Jesus as your Savior: all of your past, present, and future sins were forgiven by God!!! Since we can be assured that God has forgiven us and will forgive us, we can have confidence to live our lives openly and honestly before Him. He has truly set us free from the burden of our sins.
Is there anything new that you learned about forgiveness? How did today’s discussion help you understand forgiveness better?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
