DEVOTIONAL JOURNAL 2014
February 18, Tuesday
2014
Assurance of God’s Forgiveness
SCRIPTURE 1 John 1:9; Hosea 14:1-7 In 1 John 1:9, what follows immediately after “if we confess our sins” is “He is faithful and righteous”. Because God’s character is faithful and righteous36, He will forgive and cleanse us of our confessed sins. God is faithful to forgive because He has promised to do so in His new covenant with us, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer 31:31, 34). God is righteous in forgiving us because His Son, as an atoning sacrifice, died for our sins (1 Jn 2:2). It means “God would be wrong to withhold forgiveness”37. When God has forgiven and cleansed our sins, “its defiling effects no longer condemn us in the sight of God. Although as Christians who walk in the light we can still sin, yet this does not prevent our fellowship with God, for God Himself removes our sin”38.
OBSERVATION What does Hosea 14:1-7 tell us about God, His forgiveness and His people?
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