For Sunday July 17, 2022:

THE FORGIVABLE SIN

Psalm 32:5 (NKJV)
I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

There is an “unforgivable sin” mentioned in the Bible by Christ Himself (Mark 3:29). It seems to have involved the Pharisees’ attributing Jesus’ miracle power to Satan rather than to the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:22). Indeed, that is a serious infraction. Could it be committed today? Possibly—but I hope it’s not a sin that a Christian needs to worry about.

Strangely, Christians often think they have committed an “unforgivable sin.” Not the one Christ referred to but one of their own making. Even though the New Testament epistles mention no sin that is unforgivable, many believers live in a permanent state of guilt and shame over something they have done: “What I did was awful. I’m so embarrassed and ashamed. I don’t see how God could ever forgive me.” They’re convinced they will spend the rest of their lives on earth being forgiven for everything except that. But the New Testament says the only sins we haven’t been forgiven are the ones we haven’t confessed (1 John 1:9).

Transforming your sin from unforgivable to forgiven is simply a matter of asking and receiving.

Forgiveness works like oil in relationships.
JOSH McDOWELL

David Jeremiah, Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014), 198.