Laying our sin at God’s feet is so beautiful and freeing (we actually had a post about that!). But there are times where we feel so guilty about it that we go back and pick that sin up again, not to recommit it—but to analyze it. Then, we do that so many times that we risk falling into this lie that we’re not worth forgiving, or we become so stuck on perfection that we inhibit our walk in forgiveness.
I know that sounds bleak, but there is hope. Let’s open up to Hebrews 10 today.
I also want to preface with the fact that when I talk about forgiveness, I don’t mean that God erases the earthly consequences of our sin—He frees us from sin’s ultimate consequence of death. And, if we hurt someone else in our sin, we do need to make it right with that person or those people. Now, let’s get into it!
First of all, we know that Jesus died for all of us. If we, in His eyes, are worth His death, then He surely thought we were worth His forgiveness. So, we are worth His forgiveness. This is another one of those situations where I can’t really single out a specific verse, because God has a wonderful track record of forgiving people from the very beginning of time, and I can guarantee that some, if not all of them felt like they weren’t worth it. For example, David could have listed every sin he’d ever committed and made every excuse for why God shouldn’t forgive him. But God did, because He loved David. And God loves us, too.
That being said, we can be trying so hard not to sin that we overlook the fact that we’re walking in forgiveness. Of course, I’m not saying to go out and sin like crazy, because we do need to keep our hearts, minds and actions in tune with His Word and follow His commands. However, our hearts, minds and actions are not what save us from our sin. It’s His sacrifice on the cross that does. Hebrews 10:10 (TPT) says “By God’s will we have been purified and made holy once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah!”
But we can still sometimes live in a way that puts far more emphasis on what we do rather than what Jesus did for our sin. The very next verse says “‘Yet every day priests still serve, ritually offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sin’s guilt” (Hebrews 10:11 TPT). Here, they’re talking about the animal sacrifices (like those you would see in the Old Testament)—and they’re putting a whole lot of emphasis on those. In our times, those could look like our actions. Like I said before, our actions don’t save us because Jesus did. So, instead of trying our best to be perfect like the priests were, we need to rejoice in the fact that Jesus paid the price for sin once and for all, and lets us dwell in His loving forgiveness.
We also run into this issue where we marinate in the guilt of disappointing God. However, that’s not what God calls us to do. Hebrews 10:16-17 (TPT) say “‘Afterwards, I will give them this covenant: I will embed my laws into their hearts and fasten my Word to their thoughts.’ And then he says, ‘I will not ever again remember their sins and lawless deeds!'” These verses tell us two things: one, that when we repent, God makes us new. A lot of the time, we can see it as just telling God we’re sorry, and in part, it is that, but it’s also a renewing of our minds and hearts. He cleans and polishes them so that when He looks into them, He can better see His own reflection. It’s an internal process that involves an actual change of heart and thus a change in our actions and mindsets. That old version of ourselves that was tainted with sin is gone. Why would we go back and visit that old version of ourselves when God has created someone new?
Let’s shift the focus to verse 17. Even after we’ve repented, we tend to go back and pick up that specific sin. Like I said in the beginning, not to recommit it, but to think on it, even unintentionally. I’ve been dealing with this recently. When I find myself thinking about a sin that I know I repented of, I ask myself, often out loud, “Have we talked to God about this?” That way, I’m going back and remembering that I’ve received His forgiveness for that sin, and in knowing that He has forgotten the sin, I must forget it, too, and rejoice in the fact that sin has no hold over me. And sin also has no hold over you. Let’s walk in that.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Katie Pennington is a writer and editor who is originally from Hazard, Kentucky, but currently resides with her family in central Tennessee (though she frequently visits her Appalachian roots). Her favorite Bible verse is Psalm 42:5, which reminds her that in despair, there’s hope in God, and there’s healing in praising Him.