The Joy of the Forgiven

Posted on July 30, 2008
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Six truths…

1) We have all sinned. 2) And we are all responsible for each of our sins.

3) Thus, in the court of our own minds and in the court of Godâ€™s justice we are guilty of our sins.

4) And thus, we deserve the consequences for our sins. If we are responsible for our sins, then as adults, we should be willing to be held accountable for our sins. Children want to avoid accountability. Adults, on the other hand, take responsibility for their actions.

5) If we have sinned against God, then we are accountable to him for each sin.

6) God hates sin, he declares us responsible for it, and he has declared that we are guilty of it, and he will punish each of our sins.

We know how this line of thought ends. Jesus was punished for each of our sins.

We must not, though, rush too quickly to the end and not squarely face the beginning and the middle.

As John Stott writes, “There is no joy comparable to the joy of the forgiven.”

The greater our soberness over what we have been (and can be!) forgiven for, the greater our joy will be. The joy of the forgiven is joy indeed!

(The thoughts for this post come from the fourth chapter ofÂ the book “The Cross of Christ” by John Stott.)

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