The Jesus Bible Reading PlanSample

THE MISSING RECORD OF OUR SIN

If God kept a record of every human’s past sins, then no one would be able to stand before him when their turn came to give an account for their life. But Psalm 130:3 explains that the Lord does not keep a record of all the times each believer sins. He will not have everyone come before him so that he can scold them for every single sin they committed since they were born. Hebrews 10:17 says, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

God is not looking to discover the faults of man, but instead he is gracious. His memory is short when it comes to humanity’s wrongdoing. God’s grace is evident. He does not keep score in the midst of mankind’s propensity toward waywardness.

This forgiveness, grace and mercy that God is so eager to give his followers comes through the sinless life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the only way in which humans can receive God’s forgiveness (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7; 1Jn 1:9; 2:12). First John 4:10 explains that Jesus is the “atoning sacrifice” for all sins, which means he is the sacrifice that can repair every person’s relationship with God, bringing about perfect reconciliation between God and sinners. God no longer has to keep track of everyone’s sins because he placed all sin on Jesus when he was on the cross (2Co 5:21). With the sacrifice of Jesus, God provided a remedy for the guilt and shame of all humankind, offering them a clean slate. With the resurrection of Jesus, sin and death have been defeated, and God is now solely focused on bringing everyone to himself through the forgiveness, grace and mercy that can be found through belief in Jesus and what he did on the cross (Jn 3:16).

Jesus, thank you for erasing the lengthy record of my sin. Help me to live free of sin’s entanglements, so you can better use me for your purposes. Amen.