“Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” - Psalms 51:9

    I read the expression, “my sins,” in the scriptures and it comes to my mind in quiet thought. My sins. I have nothing else to claim for my own but these! God declares, it is “your sins” that have separated you from Him. With this expression comes an awful responsibility – “my sins.” The guilt of them, the penalty for them and every consequence of them is mine. I have none other to blame and the Holy God must punish my sins.  “The soul that sins shall surely die.” I cannot speak of my righteousness, my goodness, or my works, for even they are my sins! Even Christ said, “... ye shall die in your sins.”   But He preceded those words with words of grace and mercy, saying, “If you believe not that I am He...” HE? Yes, the One who takes away sin. The One who died as the Substitute in the place of sinners and for sin.  The One who “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” The One who made His “soul an offering for sin.” Put away? How far? How fully? Oh, the good news of His gospel! Everyone for whom He died is totally saved from their sins. All in Him are delivered from God’s wrath against sin because He has suffered the consequences they deserved. They are in Him and “IN HIM is no sin.” So completely did Christ in His cross-death deal with the believer’s sins that God gives us many expressions to assure them of their full salvation from sin. By faith we can say as Hezekiah, “Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” ALL my sins! By the prophet Jeremiah He declares, “In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” Micah proclaims, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” This is our greatest comfort and with the Psalmist we bless the God of all grace – “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities..” Those who look to Christ alone for the forgiveness of sin find all their sins forgiven, pardoned, put away, made an end of, remitted, and that justly! God is righteous to forgive the sins of those whose sins Christ bore in His body on the tree. “My sin, not in part but the whole, was nailed to the cross and I bear them no more, Praise the Lord, O my soul!"