God's Mercy for the Sins We Cannot See

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. (Ps 19:12 ESV)  

The default thinking of human beings is to consider ourselves good. In most cases, we acknowledge that we make mistakes here or there, but overall, we consider the general tenor of our lives to be positive. The Scriptures, however, paint a very different picture of the human condition. God’s Word tells us that our hearts are deceitful (Jer 17:9) and tainted by sin that colours and dulls everything that we see. To our eyes that are darkened by sin, our own faults and wickedness do not seem so terrible and the perfect law of God does not shine with the brilliance of his holiness but appears to our sin-stained senses as something dull and oppressive. 

Yet, if we were honest with ourselves, would we not be forced to admit our own desperate condition? If an invisible tape recorder were hung around our necks that recorded every single time in our lives that we told another human being, “You should…”—how many judgments would it record? And if we were to use that same tape recorder to measure our own lives, how many of us would live up to the standards that we foist on others? The truth is, we would not. We would fail and perish based on our own self-condemnation.  

And if we were to condemned based on our own standard of living, how much more would we fail, if we were to be judged according to the standard of the immortal, perfect King of all the earth? How dangerous it is to think that we can attain heaven by our own good works! For none of us is wise enough to discern the entirety of our errors—including those we have forgotten or are ignorant of. Just as a lack of knowledge of the laws of the land do not pardon an individual who breaks the law, neither does ignorance of God’s holy laws pardon anyone in the heavenly courts.  

The heart cry of the Christian, therefore, is that we need forgiveness of not just the sins that we are aware of, but also those we are unaware of. We as Christians are not permitted to live in sin lest we spurn the grace of God, but we as Christians must never think that our conduct before God is sinless perfection. Though we are redeemed, we are not yet what we will finally be. And so long as we live in this flesh, the only proper posture for us, is the humble acknowledgment that we need daily grace from our Saviour to cleanse us from both our known and unknown sin. 

Christian, do you realize just how grand a Saviour Jesus Christ is? Just as a child cannot comprehend the extent of a parent’s dutiful care for them, neither do we as God’s children fully grasp just how magnificent the provision of God is for us through Christ. How precious is the flow that makes us white as snow! How precious is the blood of Christ that takes away the stain of even the sins that are hidden from our very own hearts and minds! God, declare me innocent of the hidden faults of my soul, for I dare not trust my own assessment of my heart! 

The Gospel is good news to our souls. The Gospel tells us that we are far more sinful than we can ever comprehend, but also more forgiven and loved through Jesus Christ than we could ever have imagined. All glory be to our great and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

Written by: Samuel Chua