If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Here we have the promise and the comfort to cope with the guilt of our wrong doing. With the Lord there is great mercy and forgiveness for all our sin. The Lord is faithful concerning His promises to us and the call of mercy speaks to us of free forgiveness for all, who repent of their sin and put their trust in Christ. The work that Jesus did on the cross can justify the sinner, for there He paid the price of sin so that the justice of God is satisfied. He died to save His people, all who would come to Him for this full and free forgiveness, and the offer of that mercy is still open to us. The offer stand to whoever will come to Jesus in repentance and faith.

The problem is not with the love and mercy of God, but with our reticence to confess what we have done wrong to Him and to ask Him to forgive us. Our fear and pride hold us back. Maybe we imagine that He will not forgive us this time and that His mercy has failed. This can never be, for His promise here is faithful and true. Maybe we don’t like admitting our failure to people in case they get the better of us, but our Lord Jesus is not like that. His love is always towards His people and He is ready and willing to forgive us and pour in His comfort. He is the only one who can do this because He alone has the right to forgive as He is the one who has paid the terrible price for us. We come to Him in the humility of faith and with the heart and word of confession, and He freely sets us at liberty from the guilt and fear. 

When we first come to Him, He takes our sin and cleanses us and gives us the righteousness of Christ as our eternal covering. When we fall down and fail as Christians, we can trust in that self-same love to cleanse us from our sin and give us the strength to turn away from it completely. He really does make us clean and we can walk through our Christian life in the knowledge that we are cleansed people. Other people may find it difficult to forgive, but the love of Christ is not like other people. Let us hold fast to our confidence in the Lord who has provided such a salvation and trust in that loving heart that has laid down its life for us. We keep our eyes on Jesus who has given us the faith and will keep us and bring us safely home to heaven.