Hi everybody, this is Pastor Chuck Allen and thanks so much for joining me on this 11th episode of our 25 episode series, what Only God Can Do. On the Weekday Podcast. You know, today we're going to talk about what only God can do in the sense of Only God can forgive completely. In a world today where we hear things like I'll forgive, but I won't forget, or I'm still working on forgiving them. Human forgiveness, while it's a wonderful thing, is often partial, it's gradual, and sometimes it's totally conditional. But today, hey, let's talk about what only God can do, which is complete. I remember when I was a kid, my mom said, don't throw that ball. And I threw it and I broke this plate that she loved that was given to her by her parents and it broke. I tried to glue it back together. It didn't look the same. Dad finally fixed it up a little bit, but every time somebody would come to the house, my mom would point out, Chucky broke that when he was about 10. And we managed to fix it. She forgave me. I knew she did, but the reminder kept stinging. That's human forgiveness. Genuine, but often with lingering memories or consequences. I think it's important for us to see today that God's forgiveness is entirely different. In the 103rd Psalm, the Bible says God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. Now think about it. If you go far enough north, you hit the North Pole. You go far south, you hit the south pole. If you go east or west, you just keep going. It's an infinite amount of distance. That's what God's saying. He his ability to forgive is infinitesimal. You cannot get to the end of God's forgiveness. Isaiah 43:25 puts it this way. I, yes, I alone will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Now think about that. God not only forgives our sins, but chooses never to think about them again. This isn't just about God having a good memory or a good erasing system. It's about his very nature. Don't you Love that. I mean, it's his very nature. It's his choice to see us through the lens of Christ's righteousness rather than our failures. A research study at Stanford University.
Nothing spiritual about the study at all, but it found that people who experience genuine forgiveness show measurable decreases in stress hormones and radically improved heart health. If human forgiveness can heal our bodies, can you imagine what God's forgiveness does for our soul? In Hebrews 10, God says, I'll never again remember the sins and lawless deeds. And when sins have been forgiven, there's no need to offer more sacrifices. The finality in that statement is overwhelming. No more sacrifices needed, no more penance required. The debt is paid completely. You see, when God forgives, he doesn't put you on spiritual probation. He doesn't keep a record of wrongs. He doesn't bring up your past when you make new mistakes. His forgiveness is complete, it's comprehensive, and it's conclusive. So that should mean three quick things for us. First, it means you can stop punishing yourself for forgiven sins. I mean, don't stay in a cell that God's opened the door for. Walk out of it. Second, it means we have a model for our own forgiveness of others. When we've been forgiven, how much more so should we forgive? And third, it means freedom. Complete forgiveness leads to complete freedom. Not freedom to sin, but freedom from sin's power. So as I wrap up today, I want to leave you with this thought. Right now, God sees you as completely forgiven through Jesus the Lord. Not partially, not probationally, but completely. Later this week, Pastor Bobby and I will be walking you through how only God can forgive completely. It really is something that only God can do. So thanks for joining us on today's weekday podcast and make sure you hang out with us the rest of the week. God bless you now. Bye bye.
