Forgiveness--God's gift to you

Do not call anything impure that God has made clean (Acts 10:15).

God offers us forgiveness as a gift, pure and simple. Picture it like a court of law. You have been brought to trial; everyone knows that you’re an habitual offender. The case is open and shut—there is no question as to your guilt. When the judge asks if you have anything to say before announcing his verdict, you fall to your knees and beg him for mercy. Then, to your astonishment, the judge shows leniency—he declares you not guilty and sets you free. You are made innocent solely by the judge’s authority, because He has a merciful heart. That’s how God forgives you. When He speaks words of mercy, past mistakes are forgotten. Psalm 103 says, he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Why would God show you such undeserved leniency? It’s all because of Jesus. Life and forgiveness and love are all linked together by Christ. Without love, forgiveness does not exist; without forgiveness, life ends in hell.

Life and forgiveness are connected. Hebrews chapter nine says, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Paul says, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23); it is only by sacrificing life that sin can be forgiven. If sin is not forgiven, the result is eternal death in hell.

But who would be willing to die so that another might live? Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends (John 15:13-14). Paul writes, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Love took Jesus to the cross—love that wanted to keep us forever at His side. On the cross, Jesus suffered and died so you could be forgiven and rise from the grave. In Christ, we see love and forgiveness and life tied together in a beautiful, mysterious way. Love, forgiveness, and life: these are God’s gifts to you; He gives them freely through the hands of His Son.