He has forgiven me!
It was under Tsarist Russia, about a hundred years ago. In one prison there were two camps of prisoners fighting each other because of a rebellion. Some of the prisoners were already dead, and the soldiers were just watching and waiting to see what would happen next; they were afraid themselves. Then they called a priest. The priest begged the leader of one of the two camps to stop the fighting. He did. Then the priest asked the leader of the other camp to do the same, but he refused. He was a notorious criminal who spent many years in prisons. All prisoners were afraid of him. They called him “The Sakhaliner”. How did he become involved in crime? He studied at a grammar school, then at a university. It was under Tsarist Russia, so he came from a rich family. He was wrongfully sentenced to three months in prison. Fuelled by hatred, he committed ever greater crimes. It was always out of one prison, into another with him. He escaped, killed several people on the run, and was imprisoned again… He had the death of about a hundred people on his conscience, but there was not enough evidence. He had a strong spirit of death, just as if he was literally a demon incarnate. The priest, dressed in his cassock, fell on his knees before him and implored him in the name of Christ to stop the rebellion. A miracle happened. Touched by God’s grace, he lifted the priest from his knees and listened. Then the priest celebrated Mass and many of the prisoners went to confession. But the Sakhaliner went not. He said that his sins were so many that God could not forgive him. The priest begged him again not to change Christ for false fear, and another miracle happened – he confessed to the priest. During the Mass he was granted so great a grace that when the priest put the living Jesus in Holy Communion in his mouth, he became so deeply aware of the monstrosity of sin and the greatness of God’s love that he could no longer control himself. He lifted up his big hands, and cried out: “O Christ, O God, You have forgiven me? My hands are full of blood, and You have forgiven me? There is none so sinful as me … and You have forgiven me…? You have forgiven me everything … everything …!” He continued to name his sins aloud, saying again and again with astonishment: “And You have forgiven me! O Christ, O God, I won’t survive this day! How shall I endure it? How shall I endure it? I’ll die! Your love will destroy me! You … You have forgiven me!” It was so powerful that everyone around began to confess their sins in a heart-rending cry, calling on the name of Jesus. The priest started crying too. The spirit of repentance was poured out to such an extent that this tide of the knowledge of evil, sin and the greatness of Jesus’ love could not be stopped.
Even the soldiers and the guards were moved by the spirit of repentance poured out by God. It really felt like Jesus – the One who died on Calvary – was in their midst. Everyone could feel that His blood cleansed the criminals. And the Sakhaliner just kept saying: “I’ve done this and that… and He has forgiven it all!” He thought until then that no one could ever forgive him for all the heinous crimes he had committed. After the Mass, he fell on his knees in the courtyard, where the prisoners were gathered, and begged forgiveness from his rivals. They wept and hugged each other. Jesus was really in their midst.
No matter how great or small our sins are, God’s Word says: “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) We cannot be saved by our righteousness. The fact that God has saved us from committing serious crimes or murders does not justify us. We have the root – sin – within us – ungodliness, unbelief in God, self-centredness, pursuit of our own interests, pride. Sin is like the sentence of death on our soul. None of us will be saved unless we repent. We shall be saved in Christ alone. It is important to bear in mind: “He has forgiven me!” Bear in mind: “O Lord, I’ve done this and that … and You have forgiven me!” You can literally stand by the cross, look into Jesus’ eyes, and say: “You have forgiven me, You shed Your blood for me, Your blood has cleansed me from all sin.” This is the saving faith which is aware of this: You have forgiven me.
Once we stand before God’s judgment seat and the devil will accuse us, he will have no evidence. That is why we need to bring everything to God’s light to be cleansed by the power of the blood of Christ.
By receiving Jesus as our Saviour, we have entered on a path through repentance. However, we are often led astray from this path, and so we have to return and follow Jesus again. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is very important to us. If we follow Jesus, this path is free of sin. Sin is off the path, where the devil rules. As long as we keep to the path, we are out of the devil’s reach. The Scripture says about a hundred and twenty times that we are in Christ. We have to know it, to be aware of it. We will sin and go astray again, but we have to return every day. It means not seven times, but time and time again. Every time we sin, we have to return. When only a sinful thought enters our mind, let us return at once. By the wounds of Jesus we are healed.
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