“Lord Jesus, we thank You that You forgave us our sin. We are eternally grateful to You. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (20) and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, (21) whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
For the Jews to become a blessing, they needed to repent, be converted, and produce fruit or works befitting repentance. In so doing their sins will be blotted out.
Every man must realise that he stands before God. We are all answerable and accountable before God. Before God, we stand condemned. God provided a solution for our sin against Him. This is the love of God. He takes it upon Himself to provide the solution for our sins.
Psalms 32:1-5 A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. (2) Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. (3) When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. (4) For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah (5) I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
He has provided us with the way out of the problem of our sin but it requires brokenness on our part to acknowledge our sin to Him, repent, be converted (submission of our will to His), and experience His forgiveness.
Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
God’s forgiveness is immeasurable since He does not deal with us as our sin deserves. He is merciful and kind towards us. How can we be thankful and grateful enough for His love and compassion toward us?
Psalms 103:10-14 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. (11) For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; (12) As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (13) As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. (14) For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Blotting out our sins before God is a matter that we cannot achieve through our own effort. It is God, who alone takes away the guilt and shame of our sins. Since our sin has been blotted out, it gives us the freedom to serve Him by being the people, who represent the very nature and character of God.
Isaiah 1:16-18 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, (17) Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. (18) “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
God’s character and nature is that He delights in mercy. He will cast our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18-20 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. (19) He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. (20) You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.
As He forgives us, He also makes us be those who represent Him by being people of truth and mercy. Truth and mercy are opposites but that is the unique paradox that we hold together in our lives. We manifest truth but at the same time, we are also merciful.
The Lord has made the way, not only for the forgiveness of our sin but also for us to live out the life of God’s laws in our hearts. Jeremiah 31:33-34 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (34) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The Lord had to provide a solution for our sin in order that we will be people who carry His image.