The Reality of Forgiveness

“Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Happy is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty and in whom there is nothing false.”-Psalms 32:1, 2 NCV

What would you say if I told you that in Christ you can begin again with a totally clean slate? Would you jump at the opportunity to have every wrong act ever committed up until this moment cleared off of your record? One day I was offered this opportunity and once I accepted it my life was made new. Today I want to encourage to give Christ your past and accept his future.

We’ve all done things that we would like to take back, but today Christ is saying we don’t have to take them back because he already did. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 and 21 Paul teaches us that,
“If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.”

How awesome is that? Christ took the penalty for our crimes not only against humanity, but more seriously against God himself. In Romans 6:20-23 we are told,
“In the past you were slaves to sin, and goodness did not control you. You did evil things, and now you are ashamed of them. Those things only bring death. But now you are free from sin and have become slaves of God. This brings you a life that is only for God, and this gives you life forever. The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We have been giving not just life, but an eternally abundant life in all it’s fullness. Satan was the deceiver who kept us in slavery to sin and during our previous bondage he stole our opportunities at happiness, success and victory. John 10:10 states,
“A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.”

Any existence outside of Christ can’t really be considered living because without Christ the fullness of life can’t be obtained. Even if you have a lot of material things, if you don’t have Christ then it’s all meaningless. Christ brought us true peace with nothing missing and nothing broken. In him we are now complete. Praise God forevermore!

How did you come to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior? How has this decision changed your life?

Declaration: “I am happy because my sins have been forgiven and all of my wrongs have been pardoned. The sin nature is no longer apart of who I am because I have been declared the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Because of Christ I am living life in all of its fullness.”