You are Perfectly Forgiven From the East to the West

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The dictionary defines Sin as … deliberate disobedience to the known will of God.

But that is a watered-down meaning of sin. If we believe that only deliberate disobedience is sin, it’s easy for us to think of ourselves as good. Are you seeing a little self-righteousness here? And if we don’t see our sin … we don’t see our need to be forgiven.

The Bible defines sin as simply falling short of God’s glory. It’s “missing the mark” of God’s will.

Wow – that I do. Everyday. If I’m honest with myself I’ve probably missed the mark of His will just minutes after I wake up and my brain engages.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23

No matter how hard we try – you and I fall short. We sin, and the “wages of sin” (falling short) is death…

That’s the truth, but it’s not the end. That verse continues, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

God forgives. Not grudgingly. Not holding onto it so He can remind us later. But with perfect unfailing love…

For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Psalm 103:11–12

Pastor John Snyder says it this way in Your 100 Day Prayer – the Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God:

Think about it. The God who decrees that human sin deserves and receives death is the same God who also declares the He is more willing and ready to wipe it all out and bury it in the very depths of the sea than we are to admit it. He holds no grudges… God, who has every right to remind us of our past failures, it’s all gone and forgotten. He erases and blots out every last trace of stain forever. Why? Just because that’s the way He is.

Sin and Forgiveness – Things to Think About

1. We deny who God is when we doubt His love and forgiveness.

We have trouble forgiving and find it impossible to forget; so we put those limitations on God. We’re wrong. His love is limitless and unfailing.

2. God’s love is greater than our failures.

Ir we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 John 1:8–9

Let’s stop and confess. Admit we have fallen short of God’s will. Dig deep past the surface to those things we try to hide even from ourselves, and pour them out to our Father who delights in forgiving His children.

A Prayer for Forgiveness

Father, we come to You, in the name of Jesus, with heads and hearts bowed. We are so sorry for our stubborn pride. We are sorry for being self-absorbed. We are sorry we doubt Your plans for us; for the many times we worry unnecessarily. Please forgive us. 

We’re sorry we fail to care for each other. We walk past the “least of these” expecting someone else to help. 

We’re sorry for the times we say we’re followers of Jesus, then speak and act like we don’t know Him.

We’re sorry for the times we’ve failed to speak the truth. Times we’ve clouded the truth for personal gain. We’re sorry we’ve for the hurtful words we’ve said. For times we’ve meddled in things that were none of our business. For gossip shared as prayer requests. For criticism before compassion.

We’re sorry we are unfaithful in our relationships to You and to one another. We’re sorry we envy the blessings You give to others and fail to thank You for those You give us. 

Father, we could go on and on. Our lists are long. Forgive us. Not because of who we are, but because of Jesus. 

Thanks and praise for Your grace and mercy. For faithfully forgiving us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

What other failures or weaknesses do you want to ask Him to forgive? Stop now and pour out those things you’ve been trying to ignore.

Now…

Go look in the mirror. Take a look at the completely forgiven you!

Your sins have been removed, every one . . . as far as the east is from the west.

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