Skip to main content

For God's sake

"I, even I, am the One who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins"  - God (Isaiah 43:25) 

This verse stirred up so many emotions in my heart as I read it.
Firstly, I was sorry for what I had done that caused me to sin against God. Secondly, I was aware of my tendency to transgress and that this is not the first time I have felt sorry for it. Thirdly, I was grateful for God's mercy in wiping out my wrongs against Him. Fourthly, I was even more grateful that the reason He has wiped them out is because of Himself. Not me, Him.

Maybe a part of me wants to feel special, maybe I want God to look at my sorry heart and have my sins wiped out because I am sorry. Maybe that is what you want too. Maybe we like to feel that we can earn forgiveness just by being sorry.

Maybe it is our pride. Actually, that IS our pride. This sense of pride demands a right to forgiveness because my heart is contrite, because I have felt the weight of my sins and I don't want to feel this way anymore. But this sense of pride forgets that God owes me nothing. He doesn't have to forgive me if he chooses and He could give me the punishment I deserve -- whether or not I feel bad.

Yes, but God in His mercy has chosen to forgive you and I because of who He is. For His name's sake. And because He had promised to heal the broken-hearted and save those who are contrite in Spirit (see Ps 34:18), He keeps to His word. He forgives us because He will not fail on His word.


That's a much better guarantee of forgiveness than my shedding tears. Yes, His word has said if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He is faithful to His word that He will forgive and He fulfils His word so that no one may defame His name (1 John 2:12).

The glory of His name is the reason I am encouraged when I am convicted of sin; I am assured that He will not dishonour His name by going back on His promise.

(This blogspot was inspired by this article on Desiring God website: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-greatest-love)




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Cold Within

It's a cold day. Wrapped up warm, ready for bed, I was thinking about what my plans are for tomorrow. There's a lot of following-up to do from today, and the thought of the work waiting for me tomorrow almost sends me to sleep an hour before my scheduled bedtime. But I regularly do some reading before bed, and today, I have come across an article by Jon Bloom on Desiring God . It is about Robert Chapman, a relatively unknown leader, however, one of great reputation. His legacy of love was outstanding and Charles Spurgeon referred to him as the saintliest man he ever knew.  So what  does this have to do with being cold? I looked at my life after I read of his. I realised that although my intentions are to love like Jesus commanded ( John 13:34 ), I seldom go out of my way for others. Rarely do I choose the interests of others before mine ( Philippians 2;4 ). Slowly, in harsh conditions, the heart becomes a cold heart of stone. Age and experience have bred cynic...

Prologue- Memoirs of A Skilled Hunter

Dawn was drawing close. The gentle breeze came as a consolation, symphatising with the wild for bearing with the downpour that befell the night. This time, the predator walked along an unusual path, the rays of sun bouncing off the shy green of wet leaves providing a source of illumination to its glowing eyes. It had spotted prey and now it was calculating the next move... I hadn't seen her in ages. I watched intently as she made her way towards me, her hips swinging graciously from side-to-side, her movement emphasized by the frills on her flowery gown, accentuating her hourglass figure. It's been 10 years since I last saw her and it seemed every part of her body, visible to my eyes, had been renovated in heaven time and time again. She had become much more attractive, she was beautiful. The predator studied its prey. Well-hidden by the shadows cast by the tall fruitless trees, it was being careful. Avoiding every broken b...

On friendships

One of the things that I have accepted, although reluctantly, is that it is impossible for everyone to be my "good" friend.  I have tried hard to keep people I have met at some stage in life very close- regardless of distance, interests, religion, beliefs and life views. With time, I realised that wanting to be close to everyone meant my being close to no one. It's impossible to give your full attention and time to everyone. Only God can do that. So rather than tie people down with half-hearted friendships, I am learning to be sincere in defining my relationships. Understanding that I can’t be everything to everyone, I have had to stop putting on others the burden to be a great friend. I understand that if anyone made a promise to ALWAYS be there but they haven’t actually been, they must have had good intentions but as people say, life happens. So I forgive you because I haven’t been the perfect friend myself and I need to be forgiven too. But thanks be to God! Yes...