“Praise the Lord . . Who forgives all your sins.” Psalm 103:3 NIV
Forgiveness heals your history; grace empowers your destiny.
My thoughts and comments today are about “a soul set free.”
Unforgiven sin is a heavy burden on one’s soul, even for the strongest of men. King David learned that lesson the hard way, “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.” Read Psalm 32:3-4 NLT. Clearly, there is not only a spiritual dimension to sin; there are physical, emotional, psychological, and relational consequences to sin as well. Sin produces guilt; guilt breeds shame; shame causes regret. It is overly simplistic, but true, to say that none of those are profitable or desirable.
It is futile to hide sin from God, for He sees and knows all. It is foolish to excuse sin or blame anyone else but yourself and self-destructive to hold onto your sin when God waits to forgive readily. The burden of sin can only be relieved by forgiveness. Forgiveness heals your history; grace empowers your destiny. “Praise the Lord, O my soul . . and forget not all His benefits – Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, and crowns you with love and compassion.” Psalm 103:1-5 NIV.
Listen to David’s joy when rid of the burden of his horrible sins, “Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty . . finally, I confessed all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” Psalm 32:2/5 NLT. I saw a bumper sticker that correctly read, “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.” There is an unspeakable joy in a soul set free. Read Psalm 124:7-8 NAS.
Forgiveness was made available to you at the Cross when Jesus, the sinless Savior, died for the sins of the world. See John 3:16-21 NKJV. Forgiveness does not erase what you’ve done; it does transform who you are and can change who you become. The only reason sin remains unforgiven in your life is that you allow it to remain unrepented and unconfessed. My dear friend, Campbell, often said, “The only way that sin leaves your life is through your mouth, in confession and repentance to God.” I am sure he was right. The Bible promises, “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 that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” Read 1 John 1:8-10 NKJV.
Be clear about confession. Let’s start with what it is not. Confession is not telling God about your sin; he knew of your sin before you were willing to recognize it as such. Neither is it merely saying to God you are sorry; of course, you’re sorry. God gave you a conscience, an inner sense of right and wrong that troubles your soul when ignored. You are sorry because sin is troublesome to the human spirit. Read 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 NKJV. Confession is not promising God you will do better, although you had best intend to do just that. Confession literally means, “to say along with.” You confess sin when you say the same thing about your sin that God says – that your sin is against His moral and righteous Law, your sin separates you from His fellowship and purpose, and your sin is destructive now and eternally. Read Psalm 51:1-12 NIV.
My prayer for you today is for you to know the joy of a sinless soul and liberated spirit.