The forgiveness of our sins

All of us sin. This is a sad reality of living in this fallen world. We do or say things we do not want to do. We also do not do the things we know are right and helpful to others and ourselves. How then, does God deal with our sins?

The book “To be a Christian” has some great thoughts on page 52…

  1. What are sins?
    Sins are intentions, acts, or failures to act that arise out of my corrupted human nature and fall short of conformity to God’s revealed will. (Psalm 53; Isaiah 59:1–15; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; James 4:17; 1 John 3:4–10)
  2. How does God respond to human sin?
    All sin is opposed to the righteousness of God and is therefore subject to God’s holy condemnation; yet God in his mercy offers me forgiveness and salvation from sin through his Son, Jesus Christ, the only Savior. (Psalm 130; Isaiah 1:2–4; Micah 7:18–19; John 3:17–21; Romans 1:18–2:4; 3:24–26; 5:6–10)
  3. How does God forgive your sins?
    By virtue of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, in which I put my trust, God sets aside my sins, accepts me, and adopts me as his child and heir in Jesus Christ. Loving me as his child, he forgives my sins whenever I turn to him in repentance and faith. (Leviticus 26:40–45; Psalm 78:35–39; Matthew 26:27–28; Luke 15:11–32; 2 Co­rinthians 5:16–21; Galatians 4:1–7)
  4. How should you respond to God’s forgiveness?
    Trusting in God’s continual forgiveness, I should live in continual thanks, praise, and obedience to him; and as I have been loved and forgiven by God, so I should love and forgive those who sin against me. (Psalm 51:7–17; Isaiah 44:21–23; Matthew 6:12; 18:21–35; Ephesians 4:32)

I find this really comforting to know that even though I sin, God is willing and able to forgive me because of what Jesus has done for me.