Oh Christes blood hath such might,

That being red, dies red sins white

-John Donne

"Happy are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered" (Psalm 32:1).

³I believe in the forgiveness of sins,² the Apostle¹s Creed affirms, as do I, for otherwise I would be mired in sorrow and self-recrimination. I sin every day and neglect my duties; I do what God has forbidden, and leave undone what He has asked me to do.[1]

Theologians talk of "total depravity," by which they mean that sin has touched and tinted the totality of my being. If sin were blue I would be some shade of blue all over.

Furthermore, I am sinful in my origins--like David, "sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5). I was hurled into this world like a baseball with a hard spin on it, and the curve has broken down and away. I'm "bent," as an older generation of Christians used to say, a flawed and failed human being.[2]

But, not to worry, I tell myself every morning. It is a matter of indifference to God's grace how abominably I have behaved. God has forgiven my transgressions and covered my sins-"concealed them from sight" to preserve David's evocative verb (32:1). That sets my feet to tapping like Snoopy's. "How happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity" (32:2).

But what of iniquity that lingers? I ask with John Donne, "Wilt Thou forgive that sin through which I run, and do run still, though still I do deplore?" I lament with him: "When Thou hast done (forgiving), Thou hast not done, for I have more," i.e., a lot more sinning to do.

Indeed. But when God has done, he has not done for there is no end to his marvelous forgiveness and love.

But, David says, there must be no "deceit." I must claim my sin as my own and confess it, for I cannot hide my sins and know the happiness of a clean conscience. I must bring every transgression out of the darkness and into the light so God can hide it from my eyes. That's the paradox of forgiveness: sins don't feel covered until they're uncovered.

So then, I must not hide the evil that lies within me. I must not excuse it, or plead extenuating circumstances, for there are no excuses or circumstances that extenuate (lessen the gravity of) my sin. No matter how skillfully I justify and protect it, all sin is God-awful and inexcusable.

Inexcusable, but not, thank God, unforgivable. There is "the forgiveness of sins, according the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7). "Oh, the happiness of those whose transgressions are forgiven; whose sins are covered." That's the happiest beatitude of all, if I can believe it.

Lewis wrote to a friend, "It is astonishing that sometimes we believe that we believe what, really, in our heart, we do not believe."[3] Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins?

DHR

[1] Don't look so pious. So do you! [2] Theologians use the word "Original Sin" to refer to this phenomenon. Original Sin doesn't mean that I sin in original ways. My sins are mine, but they've all been done before, which encourages me, now that I think about it. God is never surprised by anything I do. [3] Letters: C. S. Lewis/Don Giovanni Calabria, December 26, 1951.

---------------------- David & Carolyn Roper Idaho Mountain Ministries