May 28 – If We Judge Ourselves

Hope for Today: A Daily Devotion from Reasons for Hope*Jesus

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“I have sinned against the LORD… The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” 2 Samuel 12:13

“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” 1 Corinthians 11:31

He who with sincere repentance accuses and judges himself, placing no dependence on works of righteousness which he may have done, but looking only to the mercy of God through His dear Son, may expect to receive forgiveness of all his sins at once, though chastisement may follow. For pardons are not bestowed in various measures, as spiritual gifts are.

God, through Christ, receives the whole person of a penitent sinner into His favor, forgiving both original and actual sins in one instant, so that either none or all are forgiven. But repentance is needful to humble a sinner and to bring him to Christ — yet no sins are forgiven on account of this repentance. Sins are forgiven through faith alone in the blood of Christ. This it is that the purifications of the ceremonial law were designed to typify. This fountain washes away the guilt of all sins, though ever so numerous and heinous.

For it is written, “The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And, “God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Devotion by Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky (1690—1774)