In Colossians 1:13-14 Paul says,
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Forgiveness of sins is a real thing. Jesus paid a very intentional price to be able to offer forgiveness. What’s fun about forgiveness is that our past failures no longer have a legal charge against us. Colossians 2:13-15 says,
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Not only did Jesus cancel the legal indebtedness that once condemned us, he also disarmed the powers and authorities that once ruled over us. And he did it in style!
Forgiveness is restoration. If someone does something against you and you forgive them, you take away the offense and restore the relationship. When you take away the offense you can no longer bring it back up to use it against them.
I heard an analogy that went like this: If you sell your car to someone and a few weeks later you find the spare key in a drawer, it would be illegal to find the car and take it for a drive. When you sell the car you transferred ownership to the buyer. You are no longer the owner. That means that you have no rights to that car any longer. Even though you once had ownership, and the car is very familiar and you even found a key, you do not have legal access to it anymore.
This is what forgiveness of sins is like. By accepting the forgiveness that Jesus offers, you accept the payment that he paid for your sin. This means that the charge against you was transferred to Jesus. Meaning you no longer have legal access to the guilt, shame or condemnation of your past. You don’t have legal access to take those memories and emotions for a joy ride.
If you sold your car but are still making payments on it, you did it wrong.
Change the way you think, change your life.