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If you’re a child of God, the only prerequisite to being forgiven of sin is your honest confession. The Bible is clear about that.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” ~ 1 John 1:9 

The problem is, we struggle to “receive” God’s forgiveness. Or perhaps a better way to put it is, we struggle with acknowledging that we are forgiven.

King David, in his song of repentance, said:

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin. ~ Psalm 32:5 

David confessed his sin. God forgave David. And David acknowledged God’s forgiveness. But it’s this final step that we avoid because of shame and regret

In other words, we struggle to forgive ourselves for the things for which God has already forgiven us. So, when we refuse to forgive ourselves, we run into a theological problem.

When you refuse to forgive something that our holy, righteous God has decided to forgive, you’re essentially asserting that you can have a higher standard of forgiveness than God himself. If you want to walk in freedom–affirm God’s forgiveness by faith. It’s the only way to live up to the freedom God has granted you.

Copyright © 2020 by Brandon Cox @ https://brandonacox.com. Used with permission. No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org.