www.bible.com/1713/1jn.1.9.csb
While God is faithful is forgive us our sins (if we ask, since He has already paid for them by the blood of Jesus), it seems hardly “just”. It is probably the most unjust thing for God to do. Because our sins are the very epitome of injustice. Every sin we commit is an act of rebellion against a holy God. Every sin, blatantly committed to His face, even though we know better, is an affront to His Being and Love. Would you spit in the face of one you love? And yet this we do time and again when we sin.
No, to me it hardly seems just that such a God would both forgive and be just in His forgiveness, but He is. For He has already paid the price for such an affront by expressing His love for us in this: He sent His Son, Jesus, to live among, to teach us a new Way, and to give His life for us, not just because He willingly laid it down, but that we willingly took it from Him.
Our sin had so separated us from the Lord Jesus, the One, perfect human being, that we would have hated Him. He is so righteous and so pure, that none of us would be able to stand Him. None of us would be able to look Him in the eye. And His very existence would be testimony against us. We would have gladly participated in His murder, because our sinful selves cannot abide holiness. Don’t imagine yourself to be any different. Sin and Holiness are mutually exclusive. You cannot have both. And every Christian alive today knows the careful line we straddle between the two, and the struggle to stay on the right side of it. Temptation reaches across often, and often snags and tears us from that pedestal of holiness. Again and again, Jesus reaches back across to rescue the lost sheep, the believer who has lost his way, telling him how much He loves him, and wants him back.
My friends if you have never experienced this kind of love, then you don’t know Jesus’ love. If you’ve never felt the overwhelming love that comes from Jesus who again and again loves us despite our sin, because He loves us so much that He gave His life for us, shed His blood for our souls. He will not lightly let us go. For Him, justice is to pay for our nonredeemable sins. We cannot pay for them. We can’t. No amount of good deeds will ever justify us. We cannot level the balance. No matter how hard we try or how good we are, we will always fall short of perfection. Nobody’s perfect? No, no one but Jesus. And because He was, no one else is good enough. God does not grade on a curve, but He gives grace through faith and trust in His Son.
And this is the promise He extends to you. He wants you to experience His love, peace (from not being in conflict with Him), and righteousness (something we can never achieve on our own, but He freely offers by His grace). He offers all of this to you if want it. He is faithful to keep His promises, and He us just, because has already paid the price for your admission.
Dear Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters who may not have felt this kind of love before, freely offered, at such great and terrible cost, just so that they come to belief and faith in Christ, and live eternally with You. There has never been anything so costly, and yet so personal. Please Lord, let all who read this take comfort in Your presence and grace today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Meritt Musings 