“Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.

Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
—Psalm 103:1-5, Legacy Standard Bible

Of all the benefits God has provided for His own, forgiveness is the best and first gift. It is a wonderful thing when God shows us that we are sinners in thought, word, and deed, as well as having failed to do many things we ought to have done. At the same time He shows us the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus satisfied God’s justice and took the punishment that our transgressions deserve when He died on a Roman cross as a substitute for sinners. By yielding to the Spirit’s conviction and believing that His death and resurrection was for me also, I too, am forgiven.

Without forgiveness the end of a long and prosperous life is a Christless grave without hope.

Matthew 9:2, KJV, “And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; ‘Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee’”.

The sick man was brought to Jesus for physical healing, but Jesus saw that his true need was forgiveness…then healing, just like Psalm 103.

Wait. Only God can forgive sin. That is correct, as per the entire account of this incident in Matthew 9. Check it out.

When God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:5ff, He said, “Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands (of generations), who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin…”.

Sin, transgression, and iniquity represent all types and degrees of sins against God and are forgivable…

The sinner misses the mark because he is selfish, injuring God or others by what he does, says, or fails to do. The transgressor intentionally crosses the line or climbs over a fence prohibited. The iniquitous are more devious and plan to sin ahead of time. Micah 2:1 “Woe to those who devise wickedness, who work out evil on their beds! When the light of the morning comes, they do it, for it is in the power of their hands.”

The vast scope of God’s love and mercy includes His willingness to forgive these people, of whom we find ourselves.

Sin unrepented of, leads to more sin and a dimming of moral light. Unchecked, one becomes reprobate in mind and may move beyond redemption. Persistantly resisting the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin.

Happily, Psalm 32 says, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man whose iniquity Yahweh will not take into account, and in whose spirit there is not deceit…

…I acknowledged my sin to You. And my iniquity I did not cover up; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Believing this for myself leads to knowing I am forgiven which has a transforming effect on my life. At the cross I am shocked, realizing that Jesus’ death was necessary for my forgiveness. It is that bad. At the same time, I realize that His death and resurrection is completely sufficient to wash away my sins; all of them. I walk away forever changed, being humbled and blessed at the same time.

It has been well said, “This is the gospel which came to you on its way to someone else”.

Son/daughter, “be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”