How to get forgiveness

“On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you—because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.” Leviticus 16:29-31

I love this lasting ordinance!

On the Day of Atonement—the day God’s people would be cleansed and forgiven from their sins—the Israelites were to do no work.

It wasn’t just a day of rest; there was a connection to forgiveness.

God didn’t cleanse and forgive His people based on any work they could do. While they sat still and could do nothing to earn forgiveness, God was forgiving.

We still don’t earn our freedom and forgiveness. We still can’t work for it. When we are in need of grace, we understand that it is a free gift, and though the result of that free gift is that we are transformed through His power to become holy, we must grasp the reality that our holiness does not produce the conditions for our forgiveness.

If you are a leader, you need to help others understand this. And the best way to help others is to embrace it fully for yourself.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8