Forgiveness is erasing the debt, right? Jesus Christ erases the sin debt of any who repent of their sins and yield their lives to Him as Lord and Savior. Many of us are solid on that.

Many of us also have a firm understanding of Christ’s cleansing from sin after salvation. We readily quote 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

So when a fellow follower of Christ comes to you with a heavy heart because he has committed sin, you refer to the above and gently assure him of the Lord’s forgiveness.

But… what about when you sin? Especially when you sin egregiously?

My sense is that many of us have a solid theological understanding and assurance of Christ’s forgiveness and cleansing… for others. But when we’ve sinned and the forgiveness and cleansing needs to be applied to us, we may well stumble. We see the magnitude of our transgression and we doubt whether we have been fully forgiven. We may think we first have to endure the Lord’s displeasure for a season. Like when a parent used to send us to our room to “think about what we have done.” Or we have the notion that we have to prove ourselves by not sinning that way again, or at least not for a good long while.

What is the solution? How do we have confidence that we are forgiven? cleansed? Some say things like, “You must learn to forgive yourself.”

No, friend, the assurance of forgiveness that you seek comes straight from the lips of Jesus. He said, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28). The total basis of forgiveness is Christ’s shed blood. Not whether I really, really, really repented this time. Not whether I’ve truly felt badly enough about my sin. Not whether I __________ (fill in here the lie you tend to believe as to why Jesus might not have forgiven you and received you back fully).

When we go through all those mental gymnastics and stumble over whether or not we’re fully forgiven, our eyes are on our sin and not on His blood. Keep your eyes on His blood!

You may find help by visualizing Jesus holding the cup and saying to you, “This is My blood… it was shed for your forgiveness.” Do this also: every time you doubt your forgiveness, thank Him for His blood which He shed for your forgiveness. And sing to Him: What can wash away my sin? Nothing but Your blood, O Jesus!

Eyes on the blood, fellow forgiven sinner!