Embracing God's Forgiveness

One of the marvelous things about Christianity is that in Christ we can find full forgiveness for all our sins. Through him we can escape the weight of our guilt and shame. There is liberty, knowing that our sins are forgiven. Our past is erased by the blood of the Lamb, and we walk in newness of life.

We live in a world that tries to convince us that we are not really sinners. That sin is just an illusion or a social construct, but the reality is that all of us feel the weight of our guilt. We cannot escape it. We might call them mistakes or errors of judgment. But ultimately, we know they are sin. The meaning behind the Bible word for sin carries with it this idea of missing the mark, like if we are shooting an arrow at a target and we miss. This is what it is to sin, we aim for something we know is good and right to do, but then we fall short. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23)  James says this, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."(James 4:17)  Any time we have intentionally chosen to do something we know is not good, we have sinned, and any time we have not done something we know is good to do, we have sinned.

This is especially true for those of us in addiction. We have tried many, many times to stop the behaviors we know are not good. We have made many attempts to live clean and sober, and every time we stumble and fall. Inevitably we go back to the porn, or the drugs, or the gambling. We know we should do better, and we want to do better, but repeatedly we fall and fail. The more we sin, the more we feel the weight of that guilt pressing in on us.

The wonderful thing about God is that no matter how we have sinned, no matter how often, no matter to what degree, he always accepts us and forgives us if we are willing to ask him to. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  We must simply come humbly to Christ, admit that we are a sinner, and we will find his forgiveness. It does not matter what sin it may be, if we confess it, then God is ready and willing to forgive us.

When it comes to confession, it is good to be thorough. In Twelve Steps we do comprehensive inventories and confessions as a part of Step 4 and 5.  This is a good and helpful practice, to list all the sins we can recall, every time we have offended or hurt someone, every time we have deviated from the will of God. Then go through the list and confess it all to God and ask him to forgive us. There is an amazing sense of freedom that comes from doing this. The more careful and thorough we are the more liberty we will find. It is like an emotional and spiritual spring cleansing.

Jesus told the story of a tax collector and a Pharisee going to the temple to pray. The Pharisees were the religious elites of the day and were typically self-righteous and hypocritical. Tax collectors, on the other hand, were reviled by their countryman and were generally considered traitors and thieves. Here is what Jesus said in Luke 18:10-14,

"10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

You can imagine how Jesus' audience in the first century heard this, for them this was a complete reversal in understanding. The idea that a publican could be justified, that is, declared legally innocent and acquitted of all charges before God, and a Pharisee would not was absurd. The Jewish mind at the time believed that you had to maintain that super religious, pious lifestyle to be right with God.

I find the phrasing in verse 11 interesting, "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself..."  It is not like he is actually trying to communicate with God or have a relationship with God. He wants to hear his own voice and put on a show for the people in the temple.

Meanwhile, the publican, despite his sins and crimes, humbles himself, and pleads for God's mercy. Jesus says that he received it and went home justified, with his sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean. There was at least one publican among Jesus's twelve disciples, but not a single Pharisee made the cut.

We tend to make two great errors when it comes to sin and forgiveness. We either think that we have not sinned, or if we have sinned, it is really not that bad. Not bad enough to really need to ask for forgiveness. The other error is in thinking that our sins are so bad that God could not possibly forgive us. I think most addicts tend to fall into the latter category more often than not. What we need to understand is that no matter how terrible our sins are, God is always ready and willing to forgive.

God is merciful and gracious, and his mercy and grace know no bounds. If we humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness, we will find it every time. And in that forgiveness, we find a fountainhead of peace and joy.