Last week I commented on one of the most astounding parts of the Gospel message -- our sins can be freely forgiven. No one else can do this for us except God and He does this through his Son, Jesus Christ. It is in man to want to always be good, no matter how many bad things we do. The thought of feeling bad about our self is a thought pattern that is a serious focus of modern psychology. People go to great lengths to try to make themselves “good.” Minimizing sin, and even denying sin, is a delusion we sometimes live in. We never see ourselves as we are. We blame others, justify our actions, and allow evil thoughts and intentions to go unchecked in our minds. Many times they go unnoticed, and with little self awareness of destructive thought patterns that regularly roam our minds. Jesus exclaimed, “Out of the heart flows evil thoughts...etc, and this defiles a man.” The term “human nature” is not out of date.

We don’t like to “feel bad” about ourselves, hence the many ways we have developed in our lifestyle to paper over sin. Pills help us deal with physical pain. We have lived in such a way for so long that pain is the result - a built in mechanism to tell us that something is wrong. The kind of pain you can’t eliminate is the sadness that originates from past committed sin. We try to eliminate our pain without getting to the cause. “He who covers his sin shall not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy” (Pro. 28:13).

Two things have to be done. We need to decide to change our lives and cease doing the things that cause problems for others, and which also cause guilt and pain for ourselves. Second, we need to confess our sins before God who forgives upon genuine repentance. Genuine repentance involves having a true intention to not sin again. If in weakness we do repeat the sin, we can have that freely forgiven - we have not sinned intentionally.

Through Jesus Christ we can come before the “Throne of Grace”. It doesn’t mean the throne of human goodness or human perfection. Simply grace. The Throne of Grace is where we make our request without a personal declaration of righteousness. Or maybe we clear our conscience by convincing ourselves that we are good enough to be personally accepted. Sin must be confronted and confessed. We don’t always have to be subject to the power of sin. It doesn’t have to be a source of continual guilt or feelings of failure.

Repentance is founded in truth. Sin is forgiven so we can proceed in faith that, through Jesus Christ, we will go on to fulfil God’s purpose. We must know that we are accepted by Him, without carrying with us the baggage of doubt and guilt.

So what to do? Face sin squarely. Don’t flinch. Admit without reservation or excuse. Jesus brought “grace and truth,” not just grace (John 1:17). Determine not to commit sin again. If or when you do, bring it before the Throne of Grace.