Luke 1:77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

It is that time of year again that we celebrate the birth of Christ. Today I would like to focus on one of the essential purposes for His coming. Please understand this is only one element and not the whole story. Jesus and all He has done for us and in us cannot be summed up in one issue.

Remission of sin is a multifaceted word, meaning it serves more than one purpose. The first and primary issue is removal of the shackles, that bondage, the imprisonment. We are set free. All well and good but does nothing to the sin. There is a abstract detachment, the chains have fallen and you are free to walk away, but the sin and the shackles still lay there on the floor as you picture it in your mind.

The secondary and more important issue of remission is found in forgiveness, a pardoning of sins. It is a letting go of the image of the sin as if it never happened. Yet it did happen, I remember it, I can still see it laying there with the open shackle waiting for me to return to be bound up together again. This part of remission is difficult for many of us but is just as essential to salvation as the breaking of the shackle.

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity (agape love) out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

A good conscience is one which is purged of the self-image of the one who committed the sin. Yes you did it, yes it cannot be undone, yes the consequences of the sin exist, BUT the man who committed them died in Christ and no longer exists. If you cannot let go of the self-image of “those are my sins”, then you do not have a clean conscience because something in you will not allow you to walk away from the scene of the crime and walk in the freedom that is yours in Christ.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

All things includes forgiving yourself as much as it does all the rest. If you are having a difficult time walking away for some reason you cannot understand. Get help. It is essential.