Undeserved Forgiveness

I was days away from graduating college. Having just completed my final exam, I walked to the front of the room to turn it in. The professor stopped me. “I’d like to see you in my office later. We have things to discuss.” My stomach sank to my knees. “Is something wrong?” “Yes.” Immediately, I knew what this was about. I had screwed up. I had plagiarized my last paper for his class. I had a long list of excuses for why I did it, but the fact remained: I had cheated by plagiarizing a paper, and I was about to get busted for it. Later, as I sat in my professor’s office, crying and apologizing, realization hit me: He could kick me out of school. Fail me. My mind was racing. “I’m a couple of days away from graduating, and because of my stupid decision, I might lose everything,” I thought. And I completely deserved it. Then, an amazing thing happened. Instead of tearing my world apart and giving me exactly what I deserved, he forgave me. This is exactly what Christ does for us. We screw up. We commit giant mistakes. But instead of giving us exactly what we deserve, when we turn to Him sobbing in repentance, He opens His arms and utters these words: “I forgive you.” I didn’t deserve my professor’s forgiveness, but he gave it anyway. We don’t deserve Christ’s forgiveness, but because He loves us, He gives it anyway. Freely, mercifully, and eternally. He washes us clean in His blood and removes the stains of all our sin. My huge sin—cheating—has been removed forever. If your faith is in Christ, your huge sins have been wiped clean too; you are forgiven. • Cathryn Free • To learn more about what it means to be forgiven in Christ, check out our “Know Jesus” page. • Reread today’s Bible passages. As Christians, how can we rest in the promise of His forgiveness, even when we mess up? As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Psalm 103:10-14; Ephesians 1:6-8; 1 John 1:9-2:1