The Joy of Forgiveness
Walking in the Light of Christ
The burden of guilt is one of the heaviest weights a soul can carry. For those outside of Christ, the weight of sin is constant, unrelenting, and spiritually destructive. Imagine, if you will, having to bear the guilt of every sin committed since the day you reached the age of accountability, when you became responsible for your thoughts and actions before God. The overwhelming burden of knowing that every impure thought, every idle word, every unrighteous deed is still charged to your account, would be unbearable. Yet, for many in this world, this is their daily condition.
The Christian, however, has been relieved of this crushing load. When Jesus went to the cross, He carried with Him the sins of those who would obey His gospel. The apostle Peter affirms this in the inspired words of 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” The cross of Christ is where divine justice and mercy meet. In His sacrificial death, Jesus took upon Himself the full penalty of our sins, offering us the means of forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
The Burden of Sin
Sin is a terrible thing. It separates us from God, for the prophet Isaiah declared, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you” (Isaiah 59:2). Sin brings spiritual death, as Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The penalty for sin is death—spiritual death, the ultimate separation from God.
Without Christ, humanity stands guilty before God, bearing the full weight of their transgressions. The burden of guilt weighs heavily upon the conscience, for God has written His law upon the hearts of men (Romans 2:15). Even those who do not know the gospel sense the weight of their wrongdoings, for the law of God convicts the heart and reveals the need for redemption.
The Offer of Cleansing
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ offers to bear our sins if we will obey Him. When He went to the cross, He did so to offer every person the opportunity to be free from the crushing weight of guilt and sin. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was not for His own sins, for He was sinless (Hebrews 4:15). Rather, He became the sin-bearer for those who would come to Him in humble obedience, as Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:24.
This is the glorious promise extended to all who obey the gospel. In Jesus, there is cleansing from sin. The apostle John wrote, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This continual cleansing is one of the greatest blessings Christians enjoy. As we walk in the light of Christ, living in obedience to His word, His blood continually washes away our sins. This means we no longer have to bear the guilt of our sins, for Jesus has borne them for us.
Walking in the Light
The life of a Christian is one of walking in the light. To walk in the light means to live according to the teachings of Christ, to abide in His truth, and to seek His will in every aspect of our lives. It is not a life of sinless perfection, for as long as we are in the flesh, we will continue to wrestle with temptation and sin (1 John 1:8). However, it is a life characterized by the pursuit of righteousness, confession of sin, and dependence upon the grace of God.
The Christian who walks in the light enjoys fellowship with God and with fellow believers. More importantly, he enjoys the continual cleansing of the blood of Christ, as John says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is the joy of forgiveness—the knowledge that we are no longer condemned by our past sins, but are forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
The Joy of Forgiveness
There is no greater joy than knowing that we are forgiven. David, a man who understood the weight of guilt and the joy of forgiveness, wrote in Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” To be forgiven is to be blessed by God, to have our sins covered and removed by the blood of Christ.
For the Christian, the joy of forgiveness is an ongoing reality. As we walk with Christ, we can live without the burden of guilt because we have the assurance that our sins are forgiven. This does not mean we take sin lightly or presume upon the grace of God. Rather, it means we live in humble gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus, knowing that His blood continues to cleanse us as we walk in the light and confess our sins.
Conclusion
The world is filled with people who are burdened by the weight of their sins, carrying the guilt of every transgression they have ever committed. They live without hope, separated from God and under the penalty of spiritual death. But Christians are free from that burden. Jesus has carried our sins to the cross and offers us freedom if we will obey His will.
What a joy it is to walk in the light of Christ, to be cleansed by His blood, and to live without the burden of guilt! As Christians, we should never take for granted the blessing of forgiveness. Let us live in faithful obedience to the Lord, walking daily in the light, confessing our sins, and rejoicing in the forgiveness that He freely offers.
Do not be burdened with a load of guilt that Christ is willing to bear for you. Obey His will and walk with Him daily, free from the load of sin, and rejoice in the joy of forgiveness.