“Lord Jesus, thank You for Your forgiveness. Lord, You have cast our sins behind You and You have made us victorious over sin. 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.
Jesus has forgiven and blotted out our sins when we repent and return to Him. This blotting out of our sins causes us to experience the refreshing of the Lord. This is the life of victory that the Lord has for His church.
Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
He pardons us. He does not retain His anger against us but He delights in mercy. He will subdue our iniquities and He casts our sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19 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.
This shows us that the way the Lord deals with our sins is not only about giving us forgiveness but He deals with the core issue of sin in us. He breaks the back of sin and its binding effect on us.
We are told and we have also generally accepted that we can at best be less controlled by sin but can never be fully released and set free from sin. This is a lie of the devil. In Jesus, we are fully set free from the oppression of sin.
Apostle Paul talks of this victory. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
The law of sin and death, which was operating in our flesh is now broken in Christ. This is the wonderful and glorious message of forgiveness that the church must embrace. This is what Jesus accomplished for us in forgiving and blotting out our sins.
As His church, we are to lead out a triumphal procession before the world. This is the victorious life of Christ Jesus, in us. Our triumph is over sin in the flesh, the world, and the devil.
II Corinthians 2:14-16 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. (15) For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. (16) To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
The fragrance of Christ, of His victory in us, is diffused from us into the world.
The love of God is not only about the forgiveness of our sins but the life of victory. His love for us is so great that He now enables us to keep His commandments. His commandments are no more burdensome for we are now abled to keep them, in Christ.
I John 5:3-4 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (4) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
There will come a day when our mortality will be put aside and we will be clothed with immortality. Death, in all its deadly ramifications, is swallowed in victory. This is the assurance that we have in Christ. Therefore, we are steadfast and immovable in Christ.
I Corinthians 15:54-58 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.” (55) “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?” (56) The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
We are not just conquerors but we are more than conquerors in Christ. This is the extent of His forgiveness of our sins.
Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (38) For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.