Forgiveness

"The forgiveness of sins is not merely the beginning, but it is the foundation, the source; it is, so to say, the mother of all divine blessings." - Adolph Saphir

It's true.

Look in Matthew 9. There is a story where a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus. When he sees the man he has compassion on him and says, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

Later he says to the man, "Get up, take your mat and go home."

Do you see what came first? Forgiveness of sins. There are several other accounts where Jesus does the same thing. Even when the apostles are preaching in the book of Acts, we see times when people hear the message of the Gospel and are healed.

It is important to know where your forgiveness comes from and how it is measured.

It does not come from and is not measured by anything you do or don't do. As you can see in the story above all the paralyzed man did was come to Jesus. He was then forgiven and healed.

Your forgiveness is measured by God's abundance of Grace (His unmerited favor). Look in Ephesians 1:7.

"In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"

Accept grace. Rest from your works. Let the Grace of God teach you and lead you.