Every day we ask God to forgive our sins. We are learning to cherish this gift of forgiveness, but we’re not there yet.
I once heard a good illustration of how Christians treat this gift. There was a man who had a dog as a pet and faithful friend. He and his canine companion lived in the countryside, so there were many puddles and ditches nearby. Like any good owner, this man gave his dog a regular bath. But he noticed that no sooner was his dog washed, dried, and carefully brushed than it would splash through a pool of dirty water or frolic in the muck. Frustratingly short-lived cleanliness! So in time, the long-suffering owner canceled his dog’s monthly bath.
Lamentably, we often live like that dog. We get God’s grace for our sin, receive his cleansing, then quickly return to the evils we’d just been committing. We continue to neglect Scripture or disregard prayer. We don’t really do anything to combat our anger or envy. The sin is still there, still alive.
At day’s end we ask for forgiveness, but tomorrow we plunge again into the filth that surrounds us.
This is not how it should be. Listen to what David says in Psalm 32: “Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you” (v. 9). Convicting words, for we’re inclined to stubbornly stay on the same wrong path as before. Like farmyard animals, horse or mule, it’s as if we need to be compelled to do God’s will, otherwise we’ll bolt.
But grace changes us. After our cleansing with Christ’s blood and Spirit, it is God’s will that we move in a better direction. Because of this need for transformation, David not only asks God for forgiveness, but instruction. A sinner needs a lot of training in how to live as someone who is holy, forgiven, and consecrated to God.
When we ask, God will answer this request. David records the Lord’s word to him: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (v. 8).
This should be our prayer too: “Father, forgive my sins. And Father, please teach me how not to sin. Teach me how to avoid this temptation and to beat this weakness. Show me how to keep putting aside the works of my old nature and putting on what is new and holy.” After being forgiven, the child of God asks for a new resolve to pursue holiness. She asks for a changed disposition toward the Lord and his will.
It is a Scriptural truth that renewal of life always accompanies God’s forgiving mercy (Rom 12:1–2; Eph 4:1). When we have received God’s grace, it will be seen in how we desire worship and practice prayer. Grace will be seen in how we strive for purity in speech and thought. Grace will be seen in how we try to restore things that we’ve broken and put right what has been wrong.
After we sin and are forgiven by God, grace is seen in what we do next!
The main life-change that is built right into the Lord’s Prayer is our new commitment to forgive other people. Jesus teaches us to pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12).
If someone has hurt us, we strive to treat them like God has generously treated us sinners. Those who are forgiven much, love much (Luke 7:47). Transgressors who have been treated with divine kindness ought to “be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave them” (Eph 4:32).
The mercy which God pours out should overflow in yet more mercy: forgiveness for our husband or wife, grace for our friends, kindness to other church members, love even for our enemies.
When we have received God’s amazing grace, we should be prepared to relinquish the resentment we hold toward this person or that family. After being freely forgiven by God, we shouldn’t dare to keep bringing up the shortcomings of others. As imitators of God, we ought to show to all people God-like patience, compassion, kindness and generosity (Eph 5:1). This kind of spirit and activity are the living evidence of God’s grace in us.
There should be evidence, for God’s grace has a footprint and his compassion leaves a mark.
Can the people around you tell that you’ve been forgiven?
Do the people who you live with notice that you’ve received grace?
What about the people you work with—do they see that you love the Lord of mercy?
If we’ve been forgiven, we pray that we can stop acting like animals. No more should we be like the dog dashing back into the mud puddle. No more like the horse or mule, which have no understanding but depend on bit and bridle. Instead of repeating the sins of yesterday and cherishing the grudges of last year, we are transformed in every way by grace.
Through receiving God’s mercy in Christ, the greatest change will be in our relationship with him. Near the end of Psalm 32, David invites us, “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (v. 11).
When sin’s injurious burden has been lifted and we have started to receive the healing of God’s Spirit, we come to rejoice in the Lord and his indescribable mercy. Be glad in him!
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