“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.“
How do we know that we are truly forgiven? Sometimes the weight of what we have done, or what we have failed to do is mighty heavy, and sometimes we feel unworthy of God’s forgiveness. It’s not uncommon to keep beating ourselves up about things and entertaining the doubt that niggles at the back of our minds. Have I truly repented? When judgement day comes, will I be locked out of the Kingdom. The greatest hope is to be with Jesus some day, to be reunited with our Saviour, to feel and know his love wholly and completely, for ever. The thought of being separated from Jesus by our sin is devastating. Sometimes this doubt makes us feel hollow and we question whether our worship and prayer are lacking in true authenticity, due to the shadow of sin that darkens our efforts.
Paul tells us that we all sin, and fall short of glory. And not just once or twice, it’s every day. He tells us too, that we have been justified by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through his great redemptive act of dying on the cross. It is made effective through faith in him. To be justified means that a person is declared righteous, and this is an act of God whereby he pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ.
God forgives, that’s what he does, over and over again. Just like Jesus told Peter in the Gospel of Matthew: you are to forgive seventy times seven. And just as we forgive others, God forgives us too. And the number of times he forgives is without limit. It doesn’t matter what we have done or not done. Our faith in Christ, together with his infinite grace, is what justifies us, and this is a cause for much rejoicing, as well as much relief from the anxiety and doubt. Brothers and sisters, our sins are forgiven indeed!
Tell Out My Soul 
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