THE SAVIOUR WANTS TO FORGIVE

(Talk given at Normanhurst Ward, Sydney, June 2013, based on Elder Craig A. Cardon's general conference talk entitled "The Savior Wants to Forgive" April 2013)

Many followed the Saviour during the time of his mortal ministry to hear Him speak and more often than not to witness the miracles He was performing, the miracles of healing being the most popular, which were many.  Perhaps the most significant of them all was the healing of the paralysed man who was lowered through the roof of the house in which the Saviour was preaching.  Why was this the most significant?  It certainly wasn't more spectacular than the raising of dead Lazarus, casting out unclean spirits or healing a leper.  What was significant about this instance was that through this healing the Saviour proclaimed that He can forgive sins.  So instead of saying "rise up and walk", He said "thy sins are forgiven thee". (Luke 5:17-24)  Perhaps all the other healings led up to this point where the Saviour could proclaim that He can do more than heal the body, that a greater healing was within His Power.  He used the physical healing as a symbol of spiritual healing he offers us through forgiveness of our sins.

Elder Cardon points out in his talk that it is important for us to know that the Saviour forgives sins in this life and not just at the final judgment.  I think when we repent and receive forgiveness,  we activate the power of the Atonement in our lives in three ways:

1.  Through our faith and repentance the Atonement empowers us to overcome the gravitational pull of sin and to overcome our weaknesses.  This gives us immense hope in overcoming certain sins we feel are beyond us as far as repentance is concerned.   In such instances the Atonement is our only hope.  I think we understood in pre-existence that the Atonement would be the greatest tool we would have here in mortality for overcoming the world.  I think we studied about it and were so converted to it that because of it we voted for the Saviour to rescue us from this fallen world.

2.  By activating the Atonement, the Saviour can heal us of emotional consequences of sin such as shame, guilt and sorrow but we have to exercise faith in Him that he can accomplish this.  One way we can do this is to learn to forgive ourselves for the sins we have committed.  This final step of repentance is often forgotten and we tend to sometimes walk away continuously bearing the cross of guilt which can be disastrous.  When we don't forgive ourselves we hold onto our sins and give them power and energy which increases the risk of returning them.  Here again the Atonement can come to our aid by giving us power to forgive ourselves.  If your guilt and sorrow is ongoing and you cannot let go and forgive yourself, call on the power of the Atonement to enable you to do so in the following manner:  "Through my faith in Jesus Christ and the power of forgiveness that comes through the Atonement, I ask for the ability to forgive myself of my past sins and to receive freedom from guilt, anger and sorrow".  Guilt does not serve a purpose once we have repented, it just keeps us stuck in the past.  Guilt is not meant to keep us in remembrance of our sins so we do not return to them, consequences of our sins do that much more effectively.  Guilt just corrodes our self-esteem and disables us from moving on.

3.  When we activate the Atonement in our lives, we are activating its power to heal us of emotional issues that led us to sin in the first place.  This would involve some introspection on our part to determine whether our sin was born out of pure rebellion or some deep seated issue which has been subconsciously wreaking havoc in us.  The discovery of any issue and the understanding that would bring would allow us to strike at the root of the problem thus ensuring there is no repetition of that particular sin. 

The Saviour wants to forgive because he is incredibly merciful.  Scriptures are replete with examples and proclamations of His infallible mercy.  When I read the Book of Mormon I am always on the lookout for godly characteristics that Christ possesses.  I write them into the margins of my scriptures.  I am amazed when I flick through my Book of Mormon to see that just about every page has inscribed in its' margins "He is merciful". 

When Peter asked Him how many times he needs to forgive, if it was 7, the Saviour said 70x7, meaning an infinite number of times.  He would not require this of us if He himself was not willing to forgive as often.  This alone tells us that His mercy knows no bounds.

When recounting Israel's many sins in chapters 5, 9 and 10 Isaiah repeats several times: "....for all this his anger is not turned away but His hand is stretched out still", meaning He does not approve of the sin but His hand is stretched out willing to take us back to Him.

The Lord is always willing to take us back if we are willing to repent.  He does not excuse the sin and He does not condone the sin but He will forgive the sin.  The Saviour cares less about what we have done and more about the fact that we have turned to Him for forgiveness because every time we do so we affirm His redeeming power and our acceptance of Him as our Saviour.  This acceptance means much to a man who is rejected by so many, a man whose purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).  To a man of sorrows, who is acquainted with grief, there is no sin too big to forgive, no sin bigger than the Atonement.  He is the hope of Israel, He is our advocate with the Father, He is the light, the truth and the way.