“As your conscience has been quickened by the Holy Spirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power, its guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. You feel that sin has separated you from God, that you are in bondage to the power of evil.

     The more you struggle to escape, the more you realize your helplessness. Your motives are impure; your heart is unclean. You see that your life has been filled with selfishness and sin. You long to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be set free. Harmony with God, likeness to Him–what can you do to obtain it?

       It is peace that you need—Heaven’s forgiveness and peace and love in the soul. Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot procure it, wisdom cannot attain to it; you can never hope, by your own efforts, to secure it. But God offers it to you as a gift, “without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1. It is yours if you will but reach out your hand and grasp it !

     “For all the promises of God ARE in Christ Jesus, Yea, and in Him, they are all Amen !” . . . (II Corinthians 1:20).

     The Lord says, “Though your sins _______ (your name) be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

     “A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you.” Ezekiel 36:26.

     You have confessed your sins, and in heart put them away. You have resolved to give yourself to God. Now go to Him, and ask that He will wash away your sins and give you a new heart. Then believe that He does this because He has promised !

     This is the lesson which Jesus taught while He was on earth, that the gift which God promises us, we must believe we do receive, and it is ours (Mark 11:24). Jesus healed the people of their diseases when they had faith in His power; He helped them in the things which they could see, thus inspiring them with confidence in Him concerning things which they could not see–leading them to believe in His power to forgive sins.

     “And faith shall come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God !”  – Romans 10:17

     This He plainly stated in the healing of the man sick with palsy: “That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” Matthew 9:6. So also John the evangelist says, speaking of the miracles of Christ, “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have Life through His name !” John 20:31.

       From the simple Bible account of how Jesus healed the sick, we may learn something about how to believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins . . .

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       “But forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose. When God gives the promise that He “will abundantly pardon,” He adds, as if the meaning of that promise exceeded all that we could comprehend: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:7-9.

       God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right Spirit (mind) within me.” Psalm 51:10.

     And again He says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us !” Psalm 103:12.

     God in Christ gave Himself (in exchange) for our sins. He suffered the cruel death of the cross, bore for us the burden of our guilt, “the Just for the unjust,” that He might reveal to us His love and draw us to Himself. And He says, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you !” Ephesians 4:32

     Let Christ, the Divine Life, dwell in you and through you reveal the heaven-born love that will inspire hope in the hopeless and bring heaven’s peace to the sin-stricken heart.

     As we come to God, this is the condition which meets us at the threshold, that, receiving mercy from Him, we yield ourselves to reveal His grace to others.” {Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p.114-115}

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       Let us turn to the story of the paralytic at Bethesda. The poor sufferer was helpless; he had not used his limbs for thirty-eight years. Yet Jesus bade him, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk !”

     The sick man might have said, “Lord, if Thou wilt make me whole, I will obey Thy Word.” But, no, he believed Christ’s Word, believed that he was made whole (because God had spoken it), and he made the effort at once; he willed to walk, and he did walk. He acted on the Word of Christ, and God gave the power. He was made whole !

     In like manner you are a sinner. You cannot atone* for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You will to serve Him . . . Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His Word to you _______ (your name).

     If you believe the promise,–believe that you are forgiven and cleansed,–God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it !

ref: John 1:29
Isaiah 53:3-12
I Peter 2:24
II Corinthians 5:21
Isaiah 43:25
Isaiah 44:21-23
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Micah 7:18-20

     Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say (speak aloud), “I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised !” Jesus says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them !” Mark 11:24.

     There is a condition to this promise–that we pray according to the will of God. But it is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have received them. It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand before the law without shame or remorse.

     “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit !” Romans 8:1.

note:    And God has given to you personally this promise, that . . . “God has chosen you _______ (your name) in Christ Jesus, before the foundation of the world; So that you could be holy and without blame before Him in love !”  – Ephesians 1:4 and 2:10

     Henceforth you _____ (your name) are not your own; you are bought with a price. “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold;… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter 1:18-19.

     Through this simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son !  (John 17:23-24).

     Now that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not draw back, do not take yourself away from Him, but day by day say, “I am Christ’s; I have given myself to Him;” and ask Him to give you His Spirit and keep you by His grace* (G5485 – the Divine Influence upon the heart, and it’s reflection as is seen in the life) !

     As it is by giving yourself to God, and believing Him, that you become His child, so you are to live in Him. The apostle says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him !” – Colossians 2:6.

     Some seem to feel that they must be on probation, and must prove to the Lord that they are reformed, before they can claim His blessing* (Galatians 3:14). But they may claim the blessing of God even now! They must have His grace (G5485), the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot resist evil.

     Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful, helpless, and dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all impurity.

     Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His Word. It is the privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the suspicion that God’s promises are not meant for you. They are for every repentant transgressor.

     Strength and grace* have been provided through Christ to be brought by ministering angels to every believing soul. None are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and righteousness in Jesus, Who died for them. He is waiting to strip them _______ (your name) of their garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them (you) the white robes of His righteousness; He bids them (you) live and not die !”

– Steps to Christ, p.49-52