JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Moment of Celebration reflects on the key to God’s Divine pardon.

Many people today are familiar with the term “presidential pardon.” This is what happens when our nation’s leader chooses to forgive someone’s crime and the penalty associated with it. Interestingly, the acceptance of a pardon implies an admission of guilt.

According to the Bible, Jesus is the key that gives us access to God’s pardon for our sins. Facing the truth of our moral failures is essential for finding the release from guilt that we desperately need.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, our forgiveness is complete and our penalty has already been paid through the blood of Jesus shed at the cross.

Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

Jesus, as the key to God’s Divine Pardon, is a reason to be glad in the Year of Celebration.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – The redemption of Jesus as a Presidential Pardon.

Most presidents in our nation’s history have granted pardons. When this happens, a person who committed a crime is forgiven and restored to the innocence they had before they committed the crime. Their crime is not held against them.

That is the way it works with God’s forgiveness. For the person who looks to Jesus as Savior and Lord, He grants the pardon that releases them from the guilt of their sins.

Isaiah 55 explains how we can experience this life-saving pardon:

Verse 6 says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

The redemption of Jesus as a Presidential Pardon is a lesson of faith worth remembering.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com