When I speak to an audience, it’s very interesting to watch the faces in the crowd. Do they seem interested in what I’m saying? Of the millions of words I’ve spoken to crowds, there have been two paragraphs that have especially held the attention of audiences. And those two paragraphs – my best two paragraphs – are about the forgiveness of sins.
If your conscience is anything like mine, it has a very long finger. That finger of conscience points at you and says, “Look at what you have done. That can never be made right again!” That may well be true. Maybe your marriage failed because you sinned against your spouse. Maybe you feel guilty because you failed to meet your obligations as a father or a mother. Perhaps sin destroyed your relationship with friends or neighbors or coworkers. You’d like to turn the clock back and do something over and this time do it right, but the fact is you can’t go back and do it over. But because Jesus died and rose again for you, your every sin has been forgiven, especially the sin that keeps you awake at night, the sin your conscience hurls against you. That’s my best paragraph, shortened.
A summary of my second best paragraph is this: It is not necessary for you to do good works to earn your forgiveness. Are good works necessary? Yes, indeed, and especially in our hurting and hopeless society, but do you do them to earn forgiveness? No! Because Jesus died and rose again, your sin, especially the sin that troubles you the most, has been forgiven. Just believe it and you’re forgiven. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Adapted from “My Best Two Paragraphs” from my new collection, “Word Alive!” It’s available at www.tripillarpublishing.com.
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