By Shane Kastler
People are born sinful and thus need God’s forgiveness. But, since people are born sinful they don’t always think they need God’s forgiveness. One of the effects of being a sinner is that you justify your sin and assume that anyone who would “judge” you is in the wrong. After all, who are they to judge you? If the one judging you is another sinner, then you might have a legitimate complaint. But if the one judging you is God, then you are condemned where you stand. God is not a fellow sinner on the road to destruction. God is the sovereign creator, who made us and has the right to do with us as He pleases.
The Bible teaches that the only way to have forgiveness is through Jesus Christ. God the Father, sent His perfect Son into he world to live a life of sinless perfection and to die a sacrificial death to pay for those who trust in Him by faith. Do you have faith in Jesus? This is the only way to have the forgiveness of sin. We must abandon ourselves and fall upon the mercy of the Lord. This leads to a new life in Christ and eternal life in Heaven. But to defiantly oppose him, leads only to death and eternal destruction.
In the gospel of Mark, it is recorded that Jesus was preaching in a house that was so packed no one could enter. A paralyzed man, who had some really good friends, was brought to Jesus for healing. Since they couldn’t get in the door, they decided to climb on the roof and tear away the ceiling. They then lowered their friend’s pallet down in front of Jesus. While it might not surprise you and me that Jesus healed the man; what could be surprising is that he also forgave the man’s sins. The text says, “And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)
The indication from the text seems to be that both the paralytic and his friends had faith in Jesus. This is why he uses the plural “their” to describe the faith. They came to him for a physical healing, but amazingly they got both a physical and a spiritual healing from the Lord.
What Jesus did for the paralytic was incredible. The physical touch changed his life, but at some point down the road; he still died. We don’t escape death; we merely prolong life. Death eventually catches up with us. But if you have faith in Christ, then you need not have fear of death. Jesus told the paralytic his sins were forgiven, because the paralytic had faith in Christ. Has Jesus forgiven you? Have you asked him to? Do you have faith in Him? Be saved today and experience the reality of faith and forgiveness.
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