Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
Luke 8:48
A man came to his pastor for spiritual counsel. He said, "I need to know for sure that my sins are forgiven." The pastor shared with him several promises from the Bible about God forgiving the sins of those who believe in Christ. The man responded, "Well, that's fine and good, but I need more than that. I need to really feel like my sins are forgiven." The pastor said, "It's not about feelings or something else. It's about taking God at His word, believing His promises and putting faith in Christ." How many people are not sure that their sins are forgiven, because they look for anything else but faith in the promises of God? Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ brings the assurance of faith that our sins are forgiven.
Our sins are forgiven through the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins. He was buried and raised from the dead. The gospel of God is the good news for sinners everywhere. Unless the good news is received by faith, there will be no assurance of forgiveness. In Luke 8:48, Jesus spoke to a woman whose sins were many. He simply said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." She had only His word to believe.
Are you sure that all of your sins are forgiven? There are many promises of forgiveness in the Bible. Let's look at one for example. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Do you believe that promise? It refers to the death of Christ at the cross for our sins. Unbelief says, "That's not enough. I need something else." Doubt says, "I just can't be sure." Faith says, "That's enough. I believe the promise of God."
Father, we receive forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ. Amen.
