Forgiveness, pardon, grace

Ray Ortlund post:  A pardoned soul

We swim every day in an ocean of criticism, negative scrutiny, accusation, finger-pointing, fault-finding, e.g., “Your carbon footprint is too big, you haven’t made up for the colonialism of the past, you aren’t feeding the starving millions as much as you can, you _________________.”  Add on top of all that our unmistakably real sins and failures and weaknesses, as God himself judges them, and how can we live again, breathe again?

J. C. Ryle:

“Where must a man go for pardon?  Where is forgiveness to be found?  There is a way both sure and plain . . . . That way is simply to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.  It is to cast your soul, with all its sins, unreservedly on Christ — to cease completely from any dependence on your own works or doings, either in whole or in part — and to rest on no other work but Christ’s work, no other righteousness but Christ’s righteousness, no other merit but Christ’s merit, as your ground of hope.  Take this course and you are a pardoned soul.”

Then we can make a positive difference in the world.  The future opens up through forgiveness not judgment, pardon not penalty, grace not condemnation.