01/24/2026
Are you a sinner of the worst kind? Do you think that there is no way that someone like you can ever be washed clean, and forgiven? Well, if so, you are not the first to have felt this way, and as a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul felt just as you do. To say that you are too far gone to be saved is to deny the saving grace of God in His Son Jesus Christ. So, listen to me today…
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:15-16 ESV
These are words that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, and in them he refers to himself as the “foremost” of sinners. He had persecuted Christians and had put many to death, so how could Jesus possibly forgive him? His very hatred for the followers of Christ would certainly convict him; or at least that is what he thought. Then one day as he travelled to Damascus (still threatening and desiring to kill Christians) he stopped to perform his midday prayers, and as he did, a light shone upon him, he fell to the ground, and Jesus spoke to him. Not only did He hear the voice of Jesus, but he obeyed it, and his life was changed from that moment on.
“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."”
Acts 9:3-6 ESV
You may see yourself as the worst kind of sinner, and perhaps you have even committed murder as Paul had, but there is no end to the forgiveness that Jesus can provide through His blood and perfect sacrifice. God’s ability to extend grace is not limited by the degree of your past sins but is founded on you repenting of your sins and believing in the perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ who has redeemed us.
You might look at your life and ask yourself how you could possibly change the things you do and leave behind the sins you have commit routinely as a part of it, but I am here to tell you that in Jesus it is possible. A light might not physically shine on you, you might not hear Jesus with your human ears, and you might not be knocked to the ground and blinded, but your sins will be revealed to your spirit, your conscience will speak to you, the pain of what you have done in the past will turn your eyes from your old ways, and the grace of God through Jesus Christ will make you a new person... you are loved and will be forgiven.
Those around you might not extend their forgiveness to you, and the earthly ramifications of what you have done might remain because of those things, but in the eyes of God you have been changed, and in the blood of Christ you have been cleansed. The earthly penalties of your past sins may become the cross you will bear, but isn’t that what Jesus told us when He called us to follow Him?
“And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Luke 9:23-24 ESV
Stop for a moment and consider Paul. In an instant on the road to Damascus he was changed from a temple appointed persecutor of Christians to one of those who his old self would have pursued. In a moment he became a man that those who already followed Christ would wonder about, and who, at the same time, the Jews would taunt and look down on. But it took some time for men to see who he had become… Even as The Lord spoke to Ananias about Paul, he questioned the credibility of this man...
“But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name."”
Acts 9:13-14 ESV
When we leave behind our sins as we travel our own salvation road to Damascus, we too will be questioned by those around us, and we too will be ridiculed and persecuted. We will lose friends, some of them lifelong friends, and will be taunted, and sometimes by our own family members, but that is our cross, and this too we have been told by Jesus will happen...
“"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:26-27 ESV
So yes, you can be forgiven of those sins you have carried around inside believing that they were unforgivable, and yes, you can be washed clean in the blood of Christ, and absolutely your life can be changed in an instant as Paul was. All of this can happen in the few seconds it took Jesus to exhale His last breath on Calvary. And just as He was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb... you too will have died to this world and asked to pick up your cross. Are you ready to answer His call?
Do you see His light on your sins?
Does your conscience convict you?
Are you struck by His sacrifice?
Have you become blind to your past?
Do you believe He has forgiven you?
If the answer to these questions is yes then shoulder the taunts and doubts of those around you, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus Christ in new life. This is the way to the Father, and this is the way to righteous and holy eternity.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Pray this prayer with me…
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. I thank you Lord for your Son Jesus Christ and His redeeming power. Help me Holy Father as I take up my cross and follow Him. Give me the strength to shoulder the taunting of my old friends, and ridicule of family members, but also, give me the radiance of your presence to ease the doubts of those around me who don’t believe that I have been changed. Father, each day as I walk my own Via Delarosa (the way of grief), strengthen me, and blind me to all but you. Those who line the path I walk will Jeer and spit, but in you I am comforted, in you I find peace, and in you I trust that I will have rest at the end of my journey. Lead me on Lord Jesus, call my name Merciful Father; encourage me to come, and welcome me to you when I arrive. You are my God, and I praise your name with each step I now take! Holy, Holy, Holy are you, and your grace and mercy forgives me and all sinners who will come in contrition to offer themselves to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
See the tears I cry and let them fall like scales from my eyes as I see my new life before me in Jesus Christ. Holy Father, return the sight of a saint to my once blind eyes,
“So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.””
Acts 9:17-20 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes