"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" Psalm 32:1.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul....who forgiveth all thine iniquities" Psalm 103:2,3.
In connection with surrender to the Lord, it was said that the first great blessing of the grace of God was this--the free, complete, everlasting forgiveness of all your sins. For the young Christian, it is of great importance that he should stand firm in this forgiveness of his sins. He should always carry the certainty of it about with him. For this reason, he must especially consider the following truths.
The forgiveness of our sin is a complete forgiveness.1 God does not partially forgive. Even with man, we believe that half forgiveness is not true forgiveness. The love of God is so great, and the atonement in the blood of Jesus so complete and powerful, that God always forgives completely. Take time with God's Word so that you may fully understand that your guilt has been blotted out completely. God absolutely thinks no more about your sins. "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 2
The forgiveness of our sin restores us entirely again to the love of God.3 Not only does God no longer attribute us with sin, but He also restores us to the righteousness of Jesus--for His sake we are as dear to God as He is. Not only is wrath turned away from us, but the fullness of love now rests upon us. "I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him" (Hoses 14:4). Forgiveness is the access to all of God's love. On this account, forgiveness is also an introduction to all the other blessings of redemption.
Live in the full assurance of forgiveness, and let the Spirit fill your heart with the certainty and the blessedness of it. Then you will have great confidence in expecting all from God. Learn from the Word of God--through the Spirit-to know God correctly, and to trust Him as the ever-forgiving God. That is His name and His glory. To one to whom much, yes, all is forgiven, He will also give much. He will give a11.4 Therefore, let it be your joyful thanksgiving every day. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities." Then forgiveness becomes the power of a new life. "Her sins which are many, are forgiven: for she loved much" (Luke 7:47). The forgiveness of sins, received in living faith every day, is a bond which binds you to Jesus and His service.5
Then, the forgiveness of former sins supplies the courage to immediately confess every new sin and to trustfully receive forgiveness.6 Look, however, to one thing-the certainty of forgiveness must not be a matter of memory or understanding, but must be the fruit of life. It must be our living relationship with the forgiving Father and with Jesus in whom we have forgiveness.7 It is not enough to know that I once received forgiveness. My life in the love of God, my living communion with Jesus by faith--this makes the forgiveness of sin again always new and powerful. It is the joy and the life of my soul.
Lord God, this is the wonder of Your grace--that You are a forgiving God. Teach me every day to know in this the glory of Your love. Let the Holy Spirit seal forgiveness to me as a blessing, everlasting, ever fresh, living, and powerful. And let my life be like a song of thanksgiving. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities." Amen.
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Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917)
Brother Andrew Murray was a well-known writer/preacher in South Africa who ministered amongst the Dutch Reformed churches. His writings now are widely accepted by modern evangelicals and he is published more than ever in his life-time.Some of his better known books titles are: "Abide In Christ", "Absolute Surrender," and "Humility." His burden for the body of Christ were teachings on the abiding Spirit of Christ in the believer, the life of faith with God daily, and the life of intercession and prayer in the Church.
Andrew Murray was possibly the strongest spokesman of the Philadelphian age to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him.
Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life".
Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience.
Andrew Murray was one of four children born to Pastor Andrew, Sr., and Maria Murray. He was raised in what was considered to be the most remote corner of the world - Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. Educated in Scotland and Holland, in 1848 Andrew, Jr., returned to South Africa as a missionary and minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. His first appointment was to Bloemfontein, a territory of nearly 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people.
Andrew and his brother John had been in close contact with a revival movement in Scotland, an evangelical extension of the ongoing Second Great Awakening in America. He prayed for the same sort of awakening for the church in South Africa and wrote, "My prayer is for revival, but I am held back by the increasing sense of my own unfitness for the work. I lament the awful pride and self complacency that have till now ruled my heart. O that I may be more and more a minister of the Spirit." (J. du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray)
In 1860, revival did come to the churches of Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently spread to surrounding towns and villages. Even remote farms and plantations felt the impact as lives were changed. Where once the churches had not been able to find one man ready to be a leader for God, the revival raised up 50 in Murray's Cape Town parish alone. There were more conversions in one month in that parish than in the whole course of its previous history. (Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love)
Greatly concerned for the spiritual guidance of new converts and renewed Christians, Andrew Murray wrote over 240 books. His writings reflect his own longing for a deeper life in Christ and his prayer that others would long for and experience that life as well.