I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Jeremiah 33:8
We are all prone to giving up. It is so easy to be a quitter. And we have good reason to feel despair We have offended God. In our rebellion, we have broke his every law. We have treated his kindness with disregard and we have flaunted our hard hearts and sin. We think that we will change but we fail. We put our foot in it and hurt people with our words. We lack the discipline to exercise properly or to eat sensibly. We fail to do the good we know we should. We procrastinate. We are lazy. Or we are full of pride at our hard work and accomplishments but fail to realise the full potential of the good we could do for others and satisfy only ourselves. We see our neighbor in need and pass him by. We know of the pain and suffering of so many but think only of how to better our own situation and choose to forget the hardship of others. We are easily corrupted by power, we think more of everything will solve our problems so we we strive for wealth and ease.We lust, we complain, we compare ourselves with others and feel smug.We ought to compare ourselves to God and be humbled.
And like the Israelites, when we are warned by God to repent, we harden our hearts instead.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
So it is a wonder that we could somehow get out of the rut we have dove headlong into. In fact we can not. But God sees us in this pitiful state and promises to change us. First, the muck that we have smeared all over us and only succeed in spreading further is cleaned away. We are put right. We are going to be sorted out. We are going to be lifted up. We are going to be dressed a new, gone will be the ragged clothes of rebellion and coming are the clothes of righteousness. And the stains of before are gone too. We are free of the debts and the burdens of our past behaviour. We are not going to be held responsible for our insurrection. We are unfettered by the debts of our treason and adultery.
How is this done? What must I do to be saved? It is done by God. And I can do nothing to merit it! It is a gift! It is the will of God that although we deserve punishment we get forgiveness.
Jeremiah, was getting a glimpse into the future and he was seeing Jesus.
Listen to Jesus claim the power and right of forgiveness!
The Gospel of Mark Chapter 2
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7“What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11“Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
How is this done? What must I do to be saved? It is done by God. And I can do nothing to merit it! It is a gift! It is the will of God that although we deserve punishment we get forgiveness.
Jeremiah, was getting a glimpse into the future and he was seeing Jesus.
Listen to Jesus claim the power and right of forgiveness!
The Gospel of Mark Chapter 2
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7“What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11“Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
Jesus can forgive your sins!
http://bible.us/116/JER33.8.NLT
