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Forgiving Our Darkest Sins Sculptor Anish Kapoor bought the exclusive artistic rights to use the color considered the blackest shade of black on the planet. Called “Vantablack,” the hue is so dark that it absorbs 99.96 percent of light and helps hide satellites and stealth fighter jets from the naked eye. Our reading in Isaiah 43 describes...

The Price of Forgiveness The opening chapters of Genesis tell us that God created the world and everything in it—including the first man and woman—and declared His creation good. But the man and woman, Adam and Eve, were not content with God’s fellowship and provision, and they disobeyed His command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge...

The Pain of Guilt To understand the blessing of forgiveness, we must acknowledge the pain of guilt. An article in Psychology Today titled “What Does Guilt Do?” claims that guilt is actually a valuable emotion because it helps us maintain ties to people in our community. The pain of guilt helps us realize when our actions damage our relationship...

The Unforgivable Sin It’s not uncommon to worry that we have committed a sin so terrible that God could not possibly forgive us. We’ve seen already throughout our study the reassurance from Scripture that God is willing and able to forgive our sin. Why then, in our reading today, does Jesus mention an unforgivable sin? What if we accidentally...

You Must Forgive Corrie ten Boom, who was arrested for concealing Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland, spoke at a church in Germany shortly after the war. After her talk, a man approached her. She recognized him as a guard at the Ravensbrueck concentration camp where her sister had died. He said, “Since that time, I have become a Christian.

The Guarantee of Forgiveness The words repent, repentance, and repented are mentioned more than 100 times in the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The practice of repentance involves more than just feeling bad about what we have done. It means changing our path. It requires both acknowledging what we have done wrong and...

He Remembers Our Sins No More Consider the various electronics that have become obsolete with the arrival of better technology. For example, nobody needs a VCR—not to mention a videotape rewinder—anymore! Very few of us still have a corded telephone. The CD is quickly going the way of the cassette and the eight-track tape. In a similar way,...

Faithful Unto Death Savithri was a woman in India who became a follower of Jesus. Because her village was primarily Hindu, nobody objected when her husband beat her to death after she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Savithri’s strong faith did not shield her from death. We should not be surprised by this. Jesus warned His disciples...

The Trouble with Tolerance In recent years, debates have flared up over the limits of free speech. Should anyone be given a platform, no matter his views? Can someone attempt to silence a person whom she finds dangerous or threatening? Some observers condemn the students for their intellectual intolerance, while others argue that reprehensible...

Open Doors and Secure Pillars Small magnitude earthquakes can happen hundreds of times each day around the world. Major earthquakes take place about once a month. The ancient city of Philadelphia was located about 28 miles southeast of Sardis, in a region where earthquakes often took place. The city had nearly been destroyed by a large quake...