Have you ever thought about how far the east is from the west?

It may sound like a strange question, but here is why I ask.

Psalm 103:12 says “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Well God removed your sins through the shed blood of Jesus.

And He sent them away once and for all.

As far as the east is from the west.

Now that is an infinite distance.

Here is what this means to you.

God doesn’t deal with you according to your sins.

He does not repay you according to your iniquities.

No he removed your sins once and for all so that his love could break through to your heart.

Categories: Forgiveness/Repentance

Love does not keep records of wrongs.

Which means that God does not keep a record of your wrongs.

He doesn’t have a list of every sin you’ve committed.

No, he took away your sins and nailed them to the cross, along with the record of the law that stood against you.

He forgave your sins, all of them.

And in this New Covenant, he remembers your sins no more.

Like everyone, you’ve suffered many wrongs — some more painful than others.

And sin tells you to even the score, or to do something worse to those who have wronged you.

That’s keeping a record of wrongs.

That’s not love.

Love forgives, and the first step is to nail the record of wrongs against you to the cross and leave it there.

You will be glad you did.

Categories: Love Forgiveness/Repentance

Jesus had many interesting conversations with the religious leaders of the day.

In one, he told them “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

They were outraged by these words.

“We have never been enslaved to anyone.”

Jesus explained what he meant.

Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

Now later on, Jesus defined sin as unbelief in Him.

That’s the sin that holds us captive, that enslaves us.

Here is the good news. Truth unshackles us from the sin of unbelief and sets us free.

It breaks the power that sin and death held over us.

Now this truth is bound up in the person of Jesus Christ.

And when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

Categories: Salvation Forgiveness/Repentance

In Christ, you have redemption through his blood.

This is yours right now.

And it was delivered to you as a gift of grace

But what does it mean to have redemption.

It means that…

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross delivered you from the power and punishment of sin.

It means that you have forgiveness of sins.

You see, you, like all of us, were once a slave to sin.

Sin was your master. You followed the ways of the world. You lived to gratify the desires of the flesh.

But no more.

Christ paid the debt.

To release you from sin’s control and from sin’s power.

In other words, you have been set free by the blood of the lamb.

You have been redeemed.

Categories: Forgiveness/Repentance Righteousness/Justification

Why did Jesus forgive your sins?

Not just some of them, but all of them?

Paul gave the answer in his letter to the Corinthians.

All this is from God, he wrote, who through Christ reconciled us to himself, that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

Jesus took away your sins to bring you to God, to open the way into his presence, to reconcile you to himself.

This is mind-boggling to think, God wants you to know him, to enjoy a relationship with him, to experience the fullness of his life and love.

Well, your sins were standing in the way

So what did he do?

He forgave them — all of them — once and for all.

Categories: Love Forgiveness/Repentance

Here is what God’s word says.

For I will forgive their transgressions, and I will remember their sins no more.

God did forgive your sins — all of them — in Christ.

For many, this sounds to good to be true.

And besides, they will say, isn’t their something we have to do.

Well, God has already done everything necessary.

He condemned your sins and punished them all in Christ.

And now he is choosing to remember them no more.

Now you can argue with God on this, or come up with a list of things to do to deal with your sins before God, but none of that changes the truth that God has already forgiven your sins.

So why not trust what he has done for you and say thank you.

This will bring rest to the soul.

Categories: Forgiveness/Repentance

It Is finished!

A victory cry pierced that the darkest moment in human history.

Just three words uttered from a Roman cross but three words that changed everything.

Sin, your sin, had been dealt with once and for all — sent away for ever. The powers and authorities that once controlled you had been disarmed and totally defeated by the cross. The curtain was torn from top to bottom opening the way into God’s presence for everyone who believes.

And as a result today, you stand as a forgiven person. Free from the control of sin and death and fully alive and abiding in the love of Jesus. And it’s all yours because of Christ’s victory at the cross.

Today, let "It is finished!" be your victory cry.

Categories: Jesus Christ Sin Forgiveness/Repentance New Covenant

Do you know that God has given you a ministry?

He calls it the ministry of reconciliation.

Paul explained it this way — “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.”

This is the message of reconciliation he has committed to you to share.

Sometimes it’s hard to do, because we hold people’s sins against them.

And we want judge them for what they have done.

But not God.

He has already dealt with every sin through the shed blood of Christ.

Now he is in the business of giving life — His life — to anyone who will receive it.

And he uses you to make that offer — to urge others on Christ’s behalf — to be reconciled to God.

Categories: Forgiveness/Repentance Salvation

Capernaum was Jesus’s home base during his public ministry. He taught there, prayed there and ministered there.

One day, a huge crowd gathered to hear him teach the word.

Four men showed up with their paralytic friend. There were so many people, they couldn’t get in the house. They climbed on the roof, and tore a hole in it just so they could lower their friend down to Jesus.

When Jesus saw this man, he said to him, “my son, your sins are forgiven.”

The Jewish leaders were perplexed, because they knew that God alone had authority to forgive sins. That’s Jesus. He and the Father are one. He has the authority.

So when he says to you, your “sins are forgiven”, believe it, because it’s true.

So today, rejoice, because of the blood of Jesus, you are a forgiven person.

Categories: Jesus Christ Forgiveness/Repentance

Am I ok with God?

This is a question we all ask.

And until it’s answered, life is out of sorts.

Many want God to be ok with their sinfulness and worldly lifestyles.

They want to remain lost and dead in their sins and have God still give them his stamp of approval.

But God did not create mankind for that purpose.

He wants us to be fully alive in Christ and for us to know and experience his love.

That is what he created us for.

And there is only one way for this to happen.

By grace through faith in Jesus.

Do you want to be ok with God?

Trust in Jesus.

That’s what makes you right in God’s eyes.

Categories: Forgiveness/Repentance Hope