Series: Conquering The Past“I’ve asked God to forgive me, but I’m not sure he has.” Or “I’m just not sure God can use me with a past like mine.” Statements I’ve thought, heard or made but statements reflecting a misunderstanding of God’s forgiveness.
I have a past. I’m not proud of everything in it, and I’d gladly relive it, but I can’t. It is what it is. On the other hand, I’ve learned a great deal from my past mistakes and have used personal examples to caution others about blunders and sins better left alone.
Only when I grasped the full extent of Christ’s forgiveness did I completely comprehend that my past doesn’t prevent God from using me in the present. This verse is one of many reminding us how important Christ’s sacrifice was. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time (Hebrews 10:12 NLT).
A part of conquering pasts we aren’t proud of is understanding the comprehensive forgiveness received through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Old Testament believers continually brought sacrifices because their forgiveness was based on a future event-the death of Jesus.
When brought in faith, God accepted the sacrifices and granted forgiveness, but they never felt forgiven because the ultimate price hadn’t been paid. Now that it has, we can be confident God has forgiven every sin we have or ever will commit. They’re all covered by Christ’s blood. Forgiveness doesn’t bring perfection, but knowing all our sins have been cleansed gives us assurance our past can’t hold us back. Thank God for complete forgiveness; then get on with your life and God’s work.
Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, thank You that in Christ all our sins have been paid for, never to be held against us again.
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