I Declare – I will be a messenger of God’s great grace to all who would listen. I will show them the power of God’s forgiveness and point them toward knowing Christ as their Lord and great Saviour.

John 20:19-23 (ESV)

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Authority given to the followers of God is the agenda of the day for those who live a resurrected life. Authority to forgive sins is actually quite heavy duty and we would do well to understand its meaning. As you and I proclaim the good news of the gospel of Christ and someone repents of their sins and gives their lives to Christ, we know from scripture that they then are forgiven of their sins – this occurs not by us but by God. Friends, we are but the messengers proclaiming that forgiveness of sins is available. We are the instruments God uses to reassure people that indeed those sins are forgiven – by showing them this truth through scripture. This is quite a humbling experience, one that we should be ever grateful for and one that we should never forget to proclaim to all who would hear.