“He has removed your sins away from you as far as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12)

I want to share with you two things that Jesus wants you to trust, simply because he says so. First, you are sinful and in need of saving. This is so important because sometimes we self-justify ourselves for doing things that the Lord has asked us not to do, or by refusing to do the things he’s asking for us to do.

And when we use self-justification to deny our sinfulness, we make God out to be a liar and the truth is not in us, but rather the Lord is waiting for us to hear his word, his commands, and trust that they are right because he said so. When we confess that, we are actually saying, ‘God, we recognize that the things You say are true about us–we are sinners.’

We can then confess things as sins and wholeheartedly confess them to him and seek his mercy. And that leads us to the second thing that he wants you to trust, simply because he said so. And that is, you are rescued and safe in his grace. It’s one of the reasons why we call his grace ‘amazing’ is because it defies our reason.

Why would God choose to have mercy on us? And yet those words of forgiveness and absolution are absolutely true because he said so. We call that declarative justification, that forgiveness secured for all of your sins in God’s courtroom through your great defender, Jesus Christ, who died to set you free.

The other time, that can be difficult to trust these words of forgiveness just because he said so, happens when we see sin continuing in our lives. Many times, our own guilt and the badgering of the evil one tries to convince us that we are beyond Christ’s mercy. The words of God are clear, “He has removed your sins away from you as far as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12) So believe you are forgiven, because he said so.

Prayer
Lord God, we ask that You would help us to believe and trust in Your words.

So often our own reason, strength, or understanding draws us into different conclusions that sometimes run counter to Your word. Sometimes we self-justify our own sins. Sometimes we fail to recognize the power and the completeness of Your forgiveness. But today, help us to be obedient to Your Word, to trust Your Word, and to live in that Word and that promise.

Those words that You say, help us to believe in them simply because You say so. We ask this now in Jesus’ name, Amen.