Forgive as He has forgiven us!

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace,
- Ephesians 1:7

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I have just finished posting our church newsletter on our church website. In this December newsletter I posted an article by John William Smith titled "The Gift of Forgiveness" that I found on a Christian website. If you would like to read this article you can read it by clicking on this link that will take you to it www.upc4god.org/Board/INDEX2.PHP . Also this evenings devotional by Charles Spurgeon talked about forgiveness. Even a few days ago when I was talking with a church family member the word "forgiveness" came up again. The Lord is really trying to tell me, or maybe someone through me, about forgiveness.

[Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word “forgiveness,” when it sounds in a guilty sinner’s ear, like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite? Blessed, for ever blessed be that dear star of pardon which shines into the condemned cell, and gives the perishing a gleam of hope amid the midnight of despair! Can it be possible that sin, such sin as mine, can be forgiven, forgiven altogether, and for ever? Hell is my portion as a sinner-there is no possibility of my escaping from it while sin remains upon me-can the load of guilt be uplifted, the crimson stain removed? Can the adamantine stones of my prison-house ever be loosed from their mortices, or the doors be lifted from their hinges? Jesus tells me that I may yet be clear. For ever blessed be the revelation of atoning love which not only tells me that pardon is possible, but that it is secured to all who rest in Jesus. I have believed in the appointed propitiation, even Jesus crucified, and therefore my sins are at this moment, and for ever, forgiven by virtue of his substitutionary pains and death.]

That is such an important paragraph that God shared with us through Charles Spurgeon. So many walk each day with the burden of something we did or said that consumes us to an extent that it becomes the driven force in our lives. Read further what Charles Spurgeon states about forgiveness.

[What joy is this! What bliss to be a perfectly pardoned soul! My soul dedicates all her powers to him who of his own unpurchased love became my surety, and wrought out for me redemption through his blood. What riches of grace does free forgiveness exhibit! To forgive at all, to forgive fully, to forgive freely, to forgive for ever! Here is a constellation of wonders; and when I think of how great my sins were, how dear were the precious drops which cleansed me from them, and how gracious was the method by which pardon was sealed home to me, I am in a maze of wondering worshipping affection. I bow before the throne which absolves me, I clasp the cross which delivers me, I serve henceforth all my days the Incarnate God, through whom I am this night a pardoned soul.]

In the Bible Jesus tells us this about forgiveness; Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; Matthew 6:15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Forgiveness is a very serious and necessary ingredient in our lives. Though non-believers may not understand but as believers we all should fully listen to the Word of our Lord and Savior and be thankful everyday that as Charles Spurgeon states, "we are pardoned souls!"

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott