Luke 24:46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached
in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have
been clothed with power from on high." (NIV)
To receive forgiveness from God sometimes requires more from us than we are willing to
pay or give. To receive forgiveness, we must pay out or give out by being honest and
giving away our soul to Him. In the world, and in the supernatural realms, there is no
free lunch. When we are in a state of receiving forgiveness, we come to this state because
we are willing to admit or to concede we have a need to be forgiven. When we feel the need
to be forgiven, we then open our heart to Christ. We open our heart to Him because God's
love overflows within us. For Christians, the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross
exemplifies God's love for us. To receive forgiveness from God requires we make an
admission of how we have failed and fallen short of God's goal for us. The admission or
concession we must make is not just that we have fallen short of His mark. To receive His
forgiveness, we are required to admit and concede we are in need of His forgiveness. We
must make this life-changing admission because we see we are in need and we see our need
is because our worldliness and our sin has rendered us helpless before God. When we stand
before God in the spirit while we are alive, or when we stand before Him after we die, we
are helpless before Him. No matter how much power we might believe we have in the world,
we have no power before God. When we make the admission before God that we need His
forgiveness, we become just a babe or just a child before God. When we become just a babe
or child before God…we receive His forgiving love. When we receive Christ's sacrifice
for us on the Cross, and when we accept it was our sin that Christ willingly took to the
Cross on our behalf, then we are able to receive His forgiveness.
