Pastor's Desk
March 26 , 2006
IN THE PRAYER that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, we are invited to pray for the forgiveness of our sins. That comes as a great relief to those who acknowledge that they need forgiveness for their sins because why would Jesus teach us to pray this way if it is not the intention of our heavenly Father to forgive us. But for others who have not felt the burden of sin this does not strike them as anything significant because they do not see that they have committed sin—at least not very big ones. You see, only those who have acknowledged that they have sinned can receive forgiveness.
Sin is not a word that is used in our culture anymore. Our society has swept the concept of personal sin under the carpet. They have other names for it now such as dysfunction (usually blamed on the social environment) or errors in judgment (because they haven’t been educated or trained enough). When people fly airplanes into towers and blow themselves up in market places they call it evil (because that repulses just about every “civilized” human being and there is no other word for it).
But the testimony of scripture teaches us that sin, first and foremost, is rebellion and disobedience against God. As God’s creatures we are accountable to him for our lives. He has given us instructions how we should live and then given us a free will so that we could obey him or reject his commands. When we say “No” to God in our hearts, that is sin which ultimately leads to sinful behaviour. That includes worship of other gods, making of idols (both primitive and modern ones), abusing the name of God, abusing ourselves by non-stop work without rest in God’s presence (i.e. Sabbath), mistreating our parents, murder, adultery and fornication, robbery, lying and coveting what doesn’t belong to us. Sin also includes attitudes of the heart such as pride and jealousy as well as sins of speech such as gossip and slander. For all these things we need forgiveness.
But the greatest sin of all is rejecting Jesus the Son of God whom God has sent to save us from our sins. Jesus said, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24) Peter spoke about Jesus: "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”" (Acts 10:43) God’s promise is this: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
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Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
This page was last updated on Friday, March 24, 2006