We are now in a devotional journey focused around portions of Carl E. Braaten’s book “Justification.”
The forgiveness of sins is the actualization of the divine presence of the living Christ in the midst of human beings who cannot on their own cross the bridge that leads to fellowship with God. Human feelings cannot build the bridge; they cannot cross the bridge. They stand on the one side of a grand canyon; every effort to leap across to the other side succeeds only in hurling them into the abyss below. Forgiveness of sins is God’s way of spanning the distance between the righteousness God demands and humanity’s unrelenting sin of self-assertiveness or self-abasement.
I will use this piece for two days as it brings two reflections to mind. For today, it is important to note that as God spans the distance “between the righteousness God demands and humanity’s unrelenting sin…,” it is still important for us to leap. We leap out into the promise of what God has done. To leap across on our own power is fruitless, but to leap into the promise of our God is something that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are taken across the abyss…we move to the other side of the stormy waters of life that can so often subdue us when there is no forgiveness.
Connection: So…take the leap into the promise of God’s forgiveness and then take a walk on the other side of life that is made new in Christ.
Forgiving God, lead us to the new land of forgiveness and you have promised. Inspire us to trust your action in Christ, Jesus, and thus begin to engage our world anew. Amen.
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