A God Who Is "Ready to Forgive"-How Completely Does Jehovah Forgive?

A repentant David said: "My sin I finally confessed to you, and my error I did not cover. . . . And you yourself pardoned the error of my sins."  (Psalm 32:5)  The term "pardoned" translates a Hebrew word that basically mean "lift up" or "carry."  Its use here signifies to take away "guilt, iniquity, transgression."  So Jehovah, in effect, lifted up David's sins and carried them away.  This no doubt eased the feelings of guilt that David had been carrying.  (Psalm 32:3)  We too can have full confidence in the God who carries away the sins of those  who seek his forgiveness on the basis of their faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. -Matthew 20:28.  

David uses another vivid expression to describe Jehovah's forgiveness: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed  our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12, the Amplified Bible)  How far is east from west?  In a sense, east is always at the utmost distance imaginable from west; the two points can never meet.  One scholar notes that this expression means "as far as possible; as far as we can imagine. 

Next time: A God Who Is "Ready to Forgive"-Continue with How Completely Does Jehovah Forgive?

From the book: Draw Close to Jehovah