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Confess and trust, the way to forgiveness
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My wife and I recently refinanced our home. With interest rates below 4 percent, it made no sense not to do so.
We will save money each month, and still we are likely to pay off our house sooner than we would have before. It was a deal we could not refuse.
Sitting in the attorney’s office on closing day was not something new for us. We have bought houses and refinanced loans a few times. Still, it is a very interesting experience. I did not count, but we must have signed our names 40 or 50 times each. On one paper I had to sign, “Bradley S. Butler, Bradley Butler and Brad Butler” on consecutive lines in order to show that I have gone by all three names at some time in my life. Fortunately, I was not required to sign the names some of my high school friends called me, but that is a story for another day.
Why do you suppose that we had to sign all of those papers? I mean, so many of them said the same things over and over. The cynic in me wants to say that it gives the lawyers something to do, but that’s not true.
Here’s the bottom line. They don’t trust me. Can you imagine that? Look at the picture above this column. How can you not trust that face? And if you won’t trust me, why not my wife?
I think I know the answer to that question. They do not trust me, because they do not trust anyone. And they do not trust anyone because they have been burned. People have lied. They have promised one thing, and done another.
That really should not surprise us. The Bible says that we are all sinners. That does not mean we are as bad as we could be, but we are not as good as we should be. I know some will immediately protest that we are not sinners. But think about it.
There would be no need for laws if we were all as good as we think we are. Those laws are not just for the other guys. They are for all of us. The fact is that we are all sinful. Some may be more sinful than others, but all sin.
And there is only one remedy for sin. We must seek forgiveness from God. He offers that through his son Jesus. You need forgiveness. I need forgiveness. We all need forgiveness.
I would encourage you to seek that forgiveness from the one source who offers it freely. In 1 John 1:9 we read, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins…”
That is the good news of the gospel. Confess and trust. That is the way to forgiveness.
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