God's Grace And Forgiveness

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 32:5)

Yesterday we talked about how we need to recognize our own sin if we want to be able to live in the freedom of forgiveness and forgive ourselves. In addition to recognizing our own sin, we need to take a couple of other steps.

First, we must realize God’s forgiveness. When we try to cover up our sin, God will reveal it, but when we confess our sin, God will conceal it. Do you know the phrase, “Out of sight, out of mind?” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, His blood covered all of our sins. God cannot see your sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is out of sight and out of mind. That is what God’s word means when it says, “God forgets our sins.”

This is so important that I don’t want you to miss it. Until our sin is forgiven, God knows about it, and God remembers it. It is a barrier between us and God. When God forgives our sins, God forgets our sins, and we should too.

Finally, to be able to forgive ourselves, we must receive God’s grace. When you empty your sin basket, God fills it with forgiveness. No matter how dirty you are when you get into the shower of God’s grace, you are completely, immediately, and permanently clean. Therefore, if God has forgiven you, you must forgive you. If God has cleansed you, you need to act cleansed.

When you’ve worked all day and you get into a shower and completely wash off, you just normally put on a fresh set of clothes. You don’t put back on the clothes that you have been wearing all day long, because you have accepted what that shower has done for you. That is what David did and what we need to do.

Dear Lord, thank you for your forgiveness and your grace. These are gifts I don’t deserve but that I don’t want to neglect since you have given them to me freely. Please help me to accept your forgiveness and grace so that I can learn to forgive and show grace to myself. In Jesus’ name, amen.