GOD’S HEART OF FORGIVENESS (1)

“But there is FORGIVENESS WITH YOU, that You may be feared” – Psalm 130:4

The human mind cannot fully fathom GOD’S HEART of FORGIVENESS: “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is FORGIVENESS WITH YOU, that You may be feared” (Psa.130: 3-4). This short psalm speaks of God’s Heart of Forgiveness. It is a cry to the Lord for help from the guilt of known sin, with the assurance that God WILL rescue and forgive the penitent sinner. When we cry from the depth of our soul to the Lord our God, He is both able to help us and willing to forgive ALL our sins.

God has a Heart to Forgive! Many people look at God as angry, cranky, and judgmental, ready to pronounce a punishment upon every offender. True, God is righteous and just, and He will judge sin; but He is also the very Model of Grace and Forgiveness, based upon a just payment – the blood of Christ. God’s desire is to be gracious, even as the bulk of humanity refuses to trust in Him and receive the gift of life in Christ Jesus. He didn’t have to be this way; He could have justly held our sins against us; but He made the ultimate provision. There is forgiveness with God, by which we can “reverently” serve Him and find a life of satisfaction (v.4).

God’s forgiveness is as constant as our need for forgiveness. His Heart is to forgive us completely and immediately when we confess our sin to Him, and to constantly restore us to intimacy: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jh.1:9). As much as God hates sin because of its destructive effects on us and others, He hates even more that anything should hinder our relationship with Him; one for which He sent His Son to pay the price. His continued love for us compels Him to forgive us the moment we repent of our sin, with no further price to pay.

We need not spend a moment outside of God’s perfect Love! The consequences of sin may linger even after we ask forgiveness, but not a barrier in our relationship with God. Jesus paid the highest price, His own life, so that nothing could ever come between us and God again: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Rom.8:33-35).

God forgives us according to the depth of His unconditional love: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psa.103:12). When we confess our sin to God, He chooses to remember it no more. If we feel reminded of a transgression, it’s not the voice of the Spirit, but an enemy who lies constantly to form barriers between us and God. Because the enemy can no longer keep us from heaven, he tries tirelessly to wreck our relationship with God here on the earth.

God’s Heart is to forgive all who acknowledge and confess their sins and to restore perfect relationship with Him. His Heart is not to condemn but to heal: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom.8: 1-2). Let’s rid ourselves of the condemnation of past sins that God has already forgiven and forgotten.

I choose to not condemn myself or listen to the voice of the enemy who reminds of past transgressions. I choose to trust God at His Word and receive forgiveness from all iniquities. I walk in unhindered relationship with my heavenly Father, now and always!