The Lord loves an honest sinner, who now (down here in this life, in the church militant) becomes a sinner/saint. When the Prodigal Son was walking home, rehearsing his lines of repentance, the Exuberant Father was running out to welcome him.

Probably the hardest thing for us fallen sinners to do, is to be truly honest—with others, with ourselves, and (especially) with God. The very first effect of sin on our souls, is to be dishonest, deflecting, and insecure. Once Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, they, (and we, along with them), were seeking ways to hide from God, make excuses for sin, and race from bush to bush to seek to escape the gaze of the Holy One.

Before we begin to beat ourselves up too much over this, which tends to only add to our troubles, let us recognize that sin really does bring shame; and shame is an appropriate response (before our pristine Triune Deity). So, the way to get “real” with God, is to deal with the “shame” issue. It is a real problem, and it must be addressed. And, the way to cancel the shame dynamic is by alleviating the sin issue. And the way to eliminate the sin issue, is via forgiveness (from the Ultimate One against Whom the sin was committed). And the way to get forgiveness, is by drowning one’s heart and sins in the one sufficient blood sacrifice that was made for sin (by Jesus Christ). And the way to do this, is by faith: believing God’s gospel promise, that those who come honestly before Him, confessing their utter sinfulness, and casting themselves upon the Messiah and His atonement—will indeed be completely forgiven, and received by the Father (with open arms of love, grace, and mercy).

…So, it is literally impossible to be truly honest with oneself, others, or God, without the forgiveness of sins, and the assurance that one is actually pardoned by the great and powerful God of glory, wonder, and awe.

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