More about God's forgiveness.....

"7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8. which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence," Ephesians 1:7-8

That whole river rolling thing has launched me into some deeper thought about God's forgiveness. In Christ, we experience God's forgiveness for our sins. But just how far reaching is that forgiveness?

Consider David, a boy who became a king, yet took advantage of his undeserved sovereign status to have an affair with a neighbor, resulting in her pregnancy. To make matters worse, he ultimately sent her husband to the front lines of battle where his death would be certain, thus clearing the way for David to marry the widow. Yet, in spite of his horrid behavior, David constantly spoke of the full forgiveness of God.

Or how about Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho who hid the spies sent in to investigate the city before Joshua and the army of Israelites invaded it? In later passages of Scripture we find her name in the great roll call of faith in Hebrews 11, in the Book of James as an example of a person who puts faith into action, and the most amazing miracle of all is that her name is found in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus!!!!

Or consider Paul, who was once called Saul, a well recognized Christian killer. Yet after experiencing the forgiveness of God, Saul was renamed Paul and catapulted into a career as a missionary for Christ and author of numerous New Testament books. His past life posed no limits to God.

And consider the Jewish leaders, Roman politicians, and evil citizens who stood at the foot of the cross on which Jesus hung, dying for their sins. He looked down upon the very ones who had nailed Him to the cross and said, “Father, forgive them”.

You may think that something you have done in your life is beyond God’s forgiveness. But when you consider the Biblical accounts of the people God forgave, these and numerous others, surely you must realize that there is nothing you have done that is out of the realm of God’s forgiving nature. For me, there is so much comfort in knowing and reminding myself of the extent to which the forgiveness of God will go.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has fogiven your sin and set you free from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:14). But to live fully free, you must fully accept the forgiveness of God in your life. Do you realize that if you are a Christian, there is nothing you have ever done or will ever do in the future that God hasn’t already forgiven? Complete forgiveness was part of the original salvation “package”. Accept that truth today and respond with me in thanksgiving and praise.