How can we have our sins forgiven and be in a right relationship with God? This is the main issue: our biggest problem is sin. The issue extends from not only what we’ve done on the outside but to our heart as well, and God knows our heart. He sees everything. He knows our thoughts and intentions. The Bible says, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness and sin is lawlessness.” I John 3:4. God judges sin and all sin will be judged.
But the amazing thing is God in His grace sent His Son who died on the cross. Jesus can save you because of who He is and what He did. If you are going to come to God it must be through Jesus Christ by faith and trust in Him. He alone has the power to forgive your sins because He gave His life and blood to pay the fine for the record of guilt that is against you. Then He was resurrected from the dead in total victory over the sins of those He shed His blood for: those who put their faith and trust in Him to save them. For those who trust in Him, their sin was judged on the cross. For them, there is now no judgment of sin, nor condemnation.
Here’s a short list of things that will never ever cancel your sins against God, nor get you into heaven: your religion, your tradition, your rituals, your good deeds, your “sacrificing”, your church, your wife, your mother, your aunt, your grandmother, your friends, your boyfriend, your Rabbi, your priest, your Pope, your “Mary”, your giving to charity, your being “spiritual”, or your trying to be a “good person”.
We measure ourselves by our standards. Compared to some other person, we don’t seem so bad. But God measures us by His standards: see the Ten Commandments. He says that no one is “good”. His standard is holy perfection, and only Jesus meets that standard. Jesus is God Himself in the flesh. This is why Jesus came to rescue us! Salvation, and forgiveness is a gift from God that He gives by His grace. We don’t deserve it, but in His lovingkindness, He gives it to us. Respond to Him with faith and trust, and repentance and gratitude.
By faith in Him, a swap takes place: Jesus got the punishment for sin and paid the price. Justice was satisfied. (He got the judgment that would be due to you.) Believers get eternal life, forgiveness and Christ’s ‘rightness’, which God applies to us, and puts on us, as a gift. When this swap takes place, we are then right with God.
Surely our griefs (sins) He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well being fell upon Him; and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:4-6.
Grace and Truth 