Grace is such a tough concept for us to embrace.
It’s simple enough to define—God’s undeserved favor—but nearly impossible to internalize for most people.
We know that God’s forgiveness can’t be deserved or earned, and yet we keep our distance from God because of our inability to deserve or earn his forgiveness.
We wind up keeping our distance from God because our focus is still on ourselves rather than on his faithful, forgiving nature. But the Apostle John declares, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Notice this: God doesn’t forgive us of our sins because we confess them. He forgives us, in response to our confession, because HE is faithful and just.
Our confession—literally, our agreement with God that our sin is offensive—is a prerequisite to experiencing his cleansing power, but our confession doesn’t actually earn or merit his forgiveness. Forgiveness simply flows out of the goodness of God who is always true to his own nature.
He is faithful to keep his word, so when he offers forgiveness, he follows through. And he is just in that he always honors the good news of Jesus.
It takes humility to recognize that God’s grace and forgiveness are dependent on his goodness and not ours.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
