October 10 Daily Devotional

Say to yourself, a number of times …

I am forgiven

Let us look briefly at what is promised to the people who [hunger and thirst after righteousness]. It is one of the most gracious, glorious statements to be found in the entire Bible. ‘Happy’, ‘blessed’, ‘to be congratulated’ are those who thus hunger and thirst.... Why? Well, ‘they shall be filled’, they shall be given what they desire. The whole gospel is there. That is where the gospel of grace comes in; it is entirely the gift of God. You will never fill yourself with righteousness, you will never find blessedness apart from Him. To obtain this, ‘all the fitness He requireth, is to see your need of Him’, nothing more. When you and I know our need, this hunger and starvation, this death that is within us, then God will fill us, He will give us this blessed gift. ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ Now this is an absolute promise.... Hunger and thirst after righteousness, long to be like Christ, and then you will have that and the blessedness.

How does it happen?... it happens immediately, thank God. ‘They shall be filled’ at once, in this way—that immediately we desire this truly, we are justified by Christ and His righteousness and the barrier of sin and guilt between us and God is removed. I trust there is no one who is uncertain or unhappy about that. If you believe truly on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you believe that on that cross He was dying for you and for your sin, you have been forgiven; you have no need to ask for forgiveness, you have been forgiven. You have to thank God for it, you are filled with that righteousness immediately.... God looks at you in the righteousness of Christ and He no longer sees the sin. He sees you as a sinner whom He has forgiven ... glorious, wondrous truth.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, pp. 81–2