The Sin Sandwich


God has forgiven us of all of our sins.

Paul writes to the church at Colossae, He forgave all our sins. All. The word in Greek is panta (πάντα). It is a word of completeness and means all, any, every, the whole, forever, complete, whatever. I think that covers it. No stone unturned, no exceptions.

But admittedly, there are times when our heart is burdened by guilt, by doubt, by voices that whisper "not enough". God understands our doubts, and He has compassion on us. John the Baptist, Peter, Elijah, were all men who doubted, yet God met them all there in their doubts. The Lord knows there are times when we need extra assurance, so He sends us writers, apostles of the faith like John who wrote,

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

John wrote to bring the "sinner" comfort. He who leaned on the heart of Jesus writes these words from the heart of our Savior to comfort our sin weary souls. And, knowing that there are times we need guarantees, extra assurances, he wrote,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This precious promise is not a work we perform to ensure the forgiveness of God, but rather a promise to bring us assurance when our hearts fail to know for certain that ALL of our sins have already been forgiven. We could never confess every sin we commit; this would be a burden too great for any man to bear. But, we can know that if we confess our sin, whatever it may be, and whenever it may be, we are guaranteed that God will forgive it.

Wrapped around this verse like a sandwich are these verses,

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."

The point is clear. We all sin. There are times our sin produces guilt that overtakes our sight, our hope of forgiveness. But John makes it clear here. In the midst of our sinning, which is undeniable, we all do it, there is a guarantee. God is faithful, God forgives.

Take a bite into this sandwich if you need it and taste the sweet and satisfying filling of
guaranteed forgiveness. Know this- forgiveness is already there. Every sin, past,
present, and future, has been atoned for. But if, in your darkness you cannot seem to
know that, then know this - He will cause your heart to know forgiveness, He will
cleanse that dirty stain that plagues your tender soul, if you simply confess.

All of your sins are forgiven already, but forgiveness always waits at the hand of
God whenever we ask for it. Let your soul be restored!


Comments

  1. Oh Hallelujah! I love this word you preach Joseph. You remind us of it often, and well needed. At first I had a hard time with this "already forgiven", But then you write, "has been atoned for" yes, the sacrifice has already been made, and made once for all time ! yeah, amen !

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