Above (Galatians 4:26, ESV)

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. (Galatians 4:26, ESV)

Today, I want to share with you a very short, but very important devotional practice I call "looking up." If heaven is above as Paul says, then we should look up. First of all, yes, I mean this literally. Everyday, look at the sky. Look throughout the day. Look at night. Think about heaven. Look up (literally).

I also mean this figuratively. Look for the higher things. Look for the better things. Listen to great music. Read great books. Talk to great people. Think higher thoughts. Do excellent work. Praise excellent work in others. Look up (figuratively speaking). 

Spend today looking up literally (see the sky) and figuratively (reach for the stars).

Two Ways to Live (Galatians 4:24, ESV)

Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. (Galatians 4:24, ESV)

Abraham had two sons: one by Sarah (his wife) and one by Hagar (his wife's maid). I know its seedy, but that's what happened. Sarah's son (Isaac) was a freeman. Hagar's son (Ishmael) was not. Paul writes to the Galatians that there is a deeper meaning in this.  Paul sees two ways of life: freedom and slavery. What you believe either sets you free or enslaves you. Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32, ESV).

Believe the world is evil? Believe you are no good? Believe you are unworthy? Believe there is no hope? Believe there is no truth? Believe you are unlovable? These negative beliefs are enslaving. They are your chains. And they are lies. The truth never enslaves. The truth always liberates.

Believe God is love? Believe you are good? Believe you are worthy? Believe in hope? Believe in truth? Believe are lovable? These positive beliefs are liberating. They are your keys. They are the truth. The truth never enslaves. The truth always liberates.

Today, rejoice in the truth. You are loved. You are good. You are worthy. You have hope. You know the truth. You are lovable.

The Anguish of Waiting (Galatians 4:19, ESV)

"My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!". (Galatians 4:19, ESV).

Paul loved the Galatians and he wanted their faith strong and sound. They were not there yet and Paul was in anguish. The Galatians were tottering, almost unbelieving and Paul was afraid. He was afraid because the Galatians just did not seem to be (as we say today) getting it.

Most of us have people in our lives who just don't get it. We all know people who are...

• ruining their lives
• missing their chances
• living irresponsibly
• burying themselves debt
• entangled themselves in bad relationships

What is worse is they don't get it. They don't see it: the ruination, the lost opportunities, the price of irresponsibility, the danger of debt, or the pain of a bad relationship. It's so hard to watch someone you love fall away. It's anguish. If they don't get it, what can we do?

Choose a few people from your life who just don't get it. Pray for them everyday this week. Tell them you love them and you are there for them.  What can we do? We can not give up.

I am back!

Dear friends who follow these devotions, I apologize for the unexpected gap in their publication. I was at a church convention in St. Louis and the cost of internet at the hotel was ridiculously high! I could not bring myself to pay $$$ (you hearing me Renaissance Hotel Downtown St. Louis: drop the rate).

I had hoped for some time away to find some free access, but the convention schedule was brutal. OK...I did go the Cardinals game one night, but that was it for fun. I confess and beg forgiveness.

Regardless, I am back. Tomorrow's devotion will be up tomorrow at 4:30AM.  Monday - Saturday, I will be seeing you (virtually...so to speak... you know what I mean).  :-)

Unpopular, Necessary Truth

Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Galatians 4:16, ESV)

The people who tell us the truth are not always our favorite people, but they should be. Children sometimes get angry at their parents when they tell them the truth...and vice-versa, I might add! Friendships are sometimes strained when the truth is told.  Coaches who are honest with their teams are not always beloved. I had an English teacher who was brutally honest with me about my writing. I was not happy!

Do we make enemies of the people who tell us the truth? If we do, we are wrong. We should bless the people who tell us the truth, especially the truth we do not want to hear. The one sure sign of true love is the willingness to tell the truth, even when it hurts.



Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Proverbs 27:6, ESV)

The Silver Lining (Gal 4:13)

You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,(Galatians 4:13, ESV)

No one likes being sick. When life goes wrong, it is miserable. Paul was sick for much of his adult life. We know for sure that he had bad eyes, but likely he had more trouble than just that. In today's reading, Paul notes that his sickness was the immediate cause of preaching to the Galatians for the very time. Paul was sick. He had to stop in Galatia, so he preached. Think of all that happened because Paul did not feel well. Because Paul got sick, thousands of people came to Christ. Because Paul got, the first book of the New Testament (Galatians) got written. Literally, millions and likely billions of people will reach his letter to the Galatians and come to faith. These all happened because Paul got sick.

No one likes being sick, but God can and will use your sickness and suffering. Remember Romans 8:28, God words all things [even sickness] for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 

It's the right time (Galatians 4:10)

You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.(Galatians 4:10–11, ESV)

While everything has a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1), there are somethings that are always in season. There are somethings that are timeless. Paul is chiding the Galatians about their observation of months, seasons, and years. He is telling them that the really important matters of faith and live know no seasons. Now is always the time to love one another. Now is always the time to believe. Now is always the time to trust God. Now is always the time to rejoice. Now is always the time to praise. Now is always the time to forgive. Now is always the victory of our God.

Today, try to live as much in the NOW as you can. Do not wait to express your love. Do not wait to pray. Do not wait to read your Bible Do not wait to give thanks. Do not wait to forgive. Do it now!

The Chicken or the Egg (Gal. 4:9)

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God...(Galatians 4:9, ESV)

Did I come to God? Or did God come to me, first? Did I come to know God or did God come to know me, first? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? While the chicken and the egg question is hard to answer, the questions about God are easier to answer. God always comes first. God came to me before I came to him. God knew me before I knew Him. This isn't just word play: which came first matters. If everything depended on me coming to God or me finding God first, then I might not make it. I am not perfect at getting places and finding things. Suppose I missed God? Supposed I looked for Him and looked in the wrong places. This is why it is vital that God comes to us first and that we are known by God before we know Him. God never gets lost. God never loses anything or anyone. Remember today: God knew you first. God found you first. There are no accidents. No mistakes. You are part of God's perfect plan.

"Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6)

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”(Galatians 4:6, ESV)

I love watching good fathers. I know a few. I can spot a good father by the trust his children place in him. You can see it. His kids trust him. He's not perfect, but he is good. His children know that. They trust him. You tell a good father when you hear his kids say, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Next time you are at the playground, near a school, or in church, listen. You'll hear it. It is the sound of trust.

Paul is telling us today we can trust our heavenly father. We can call him, "Father." The word 'Abba' is the Aramaic word for Father. We can place that same trust in God that children place in a trustworthy earthly father. If you had a trustworthy parent, give thanks! If you didn't, remember: you have a heavenly father who loves you. You can place your complete trust in God, your father.

"The Fullness of Time"

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.(Galatians 4:4–5, ESV)

Time. I am fond of saying, "I can make more money. I cannot make more time." Time is our scarcest non-renewable resource. Rarer than diamonds. Rarer than gold. Lost time is irreplaceable. In Galatians 4:4, Paul states that Christ came at the fullness of time. In other words, Christ came into the world at exactly the right moment: not a moment too soon and not a moment too late.

Christ also came to you at exactly that right moment. If you were baptized as an infant, Christ came to you then and that was the right time for you. If you came to faith as an adult, Christ came to you then and that was the right time for you. Christ always arrives at exactly the right moment for each person.

Even more, Christ comes to you today and that is exactly the right moment. Jesus comes to you everyday. Today is always the day of salvation. Now is always the time of our God.

None of us knows when our time will run out. None of us knows how much time he or she has. This is why it is so vital that Jesus comes at the right time. He was born at the right time. He came to you at the right time. He comes to you every day at the right time. He will come to you on your last day. He always comes at the right time.

Growing with Grace Daily Devotions

Today is Sunday! The blogger rests. Worship at your place of worship. See you tomorrow!

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29, ESV)

Have you ever inherited anything? A little money? A piece of furniture? A car, perhaps? How did it make you feel? My inheritance left me feeling...well...ambivalent. I inherited amongst other things a particular desk from my mother. She called the desk a 'secretary.' On the one hand, I'm glad I received it. It's a beautiful piece of furniture. On the other hand, I'm sad because I received it after her death. "For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive" (Hebrews 9:17, ESV).


Inheriting comes with mixed feelings. Another inheritance I have received came from God. Jesus wrote me into His last will and testament. He named you, too. Because Jesus died, I am an heir and so are you. I inherit the promises God made to Abraham for the same reason. You do, too. Am I glad I will inherit the promises of God? You bet I am and I bet you are, too. Am I sad Jesus had to die for me to inherit those promises? I am and I expect you are, too. Inheriting is both happy and sad.

My actions toward my inheritance are complex, too. The little bit of money I inherited I spent much more carefully than any money I earned myself. Why? I take special care of the desk I inherited, too. Why? Inherited money spends exactly the same as earned money. An inherited desk does not require more care than a store bought desk. Atom for atom, inherited money and furniture are identical to all other money and other furniture. But in my heart, they are very different and deserve different treatment. The English language has a beautiful word to connote the special status of things inherited: heirloom. Heirlooms are more than mere atoms. My heirloom desk is an imperfect reflection of my mother. I remember her whenever I walk past it. Seeing it, I glimpse her out of the corner of my eye, sitting at her desk writing. I see her "through a glass darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12, KJV)

What heirlooms have you received from Jesus Christ? Your Bible is an heirloom left to you by Jesus. Your baptism, too. The Lord's Supper as well. Even more: every human being you have ever met, every breath you have ever taken, every drop of love you have ever felt, and every joy in all creation are heirlooms left to you in the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. Look for some heirlooms today!

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, ESV)

In Paul's day, the Jews thought they were better than the Greeks and the Greeks thought they were better than the Jews. Both were wrong. The free people considered themselves better than the slaves. The slaves thought themselves better than the free people (making their slavery even harder to bear). Both were wrong. The men thought they were better than the women and the women thought they were better than the men. And again, both were wrong.

Everyone was and is equal in Christ. No one had or has any business looking down on someone else. Paul cites three examples from Galatia that still trouble us today. Let us be clear. Racism in all its forms is an abomination. Slavery (and its modern form human trafficking) is reprehensible. Gender bias and discrimination is abhorrent. These are but three horrors: there are, sadly, many more. Let us commit to put an end to these and other such monstrosities in our individual lives. This begins with you and I. We are all the same in Christ.

Paul identified three rifts in the people of Galatia: Jew/Greek, slave/free, and woman/man. What rifts would he find in your world? Whom do you regard as less equal? Upon whom do you look down? Pray that God would change your heart. Who regards you as less equal? Who looks down on you? Pray that God would change that person's heart.

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

"But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:25–27, ESV).

The word "guardian" is interesting. Guardians were similar to babysitters. Guardians protected the children from themselves. Guardians child-proofed the house. Guardians made sure homework was done. Children had guardians until they could be trusted to make their own decisions. Children need guardians until they mature. Adults are guardians or at least are supposed to be guardians. The words "mature adult" should be a redundancy, not an oxymoron!

Which, by the way, are you? A child or an adult? Do you need a guardian or are you ready to be a guardian? Since none of us is fully mature, a better question is "in which areas of life do you need a guardian and in which areas can you be someone's guardian?" The more faith you have in an area, the less you need a guardian. The less faith you have in an area, the more you need a guardian. How to know which is which? Worry and fear are strong indicators. The areas you worry most about or fear most are likely the areas where your faith needs strengthening.  You may need a guardian. The areas you are confident and courageous are areas where your faith is strong. Here you might be guardian to another. In either case, remember: the guardian's job is to work him/herself out of a job!

Today, define one area of life where you need a guardian. Ask God to bring a guardian into your life. Someone who can help you grow up in this area. Someone who will "work him/herself out of the job." Also, define one area of life where you are ready to be someone's guardian. Ask God to bring someone into your life who needs your help and then work yourself out of that job.

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:23–24, ESV).

Captive. Imprisoned. I have never been in jail...except in my own mind. My mind is a prison I know all too well. My mental prison has four strong walls. I have written one word on each wall. What are the four words? I am no good. The belief "I am no good" is the single most enslaving belief in the world. And it is a lie.

Set free. Loosed. The door to my mental prison had a single key: love. God's exception-less love for all. All includes me. I am loved. Loved is good.

I am ashamed to admit this, but I lock myself in my prison cell from time to time. If you find yourself locked up today, remember God loves you and so do I.

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

"Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16, ESV).

In baseball, batting average (BA) is one of the most important hitting statistics. Number of hits divided by number of at bats equals BA. 3 hits out of 10 at bats over a career will make you a multimillionaire and likely land you in the hall of fame. Here's a more important stat to calculate: promise-keeping average (PKA). Number of fully kept promises/total promises made equals PKA.

Every promise God has ever made God has fully kept. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20).  God's PKA = 1.0. What's yours?

Let's get our PKA's up. Today, make and keep a few simple promises!

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

“The righteous shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11 (ESV)

What is this faith by which I am to live? "Faith is being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see" (paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1). Faith-living is life WITH HOPE and FOR HEAVEN. 

The first part of faith-living WITH HOPE. Everyone wants hope. Too many live in despair. Thoreau wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Everyday I ask God for his song for my life and for the voice to sing it. Everyday I ask God for his hope for my life and the strength to believe it. Do not either settle for quiet desperation. Do not let the song die within you. Ask God for his SONG for your life and the voice to sing it everyday! Ask God for his HOPE for your life and the strength to believe it everyday. This is the first part of living by faith: WITH HOPE.

The second part of faith-living: FOR HEAVEN. I live on earth but my true life awaits in heaven. Sometimes, the earth seems so dreadful a place, with disasters, disease, death, and the cruelty of people, that I long FOR HEAVEN. Other times, the earth seems such a breathtaking and achingly beautiful place, the mountains, the sea, the great plains, the rising sun, the setting moon, and the kindness and genius of people, that I glimpse heaven here. Glimpsing heaven is also part of living FOR HEAVEN. To live FOR HEAVEN then is both to long for heaven and to glimpse it. I see it and want it. To live FOR HEAVEN, I ask God for the will to reject utterly and fight constantly disaster, disease, death, despair, and cruelty. To live FOR HEAVEN, I ask God for the will to seek and the grace to see heaven everyday in every good thing and person. Ask God to give you the longing FOR HEAVEN and the grace to see it everyday. This is the second part of living by faith: FOR HEAVEN.

Live with HOPE and for HEAVEN. This is living by faith.

Growing with Grace Daily Devotions

Today is Sunday! The blogger rests. Worship at your place of worship. See you tomorrow!

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion (6 July 2013)

"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.'” (Gal 3:8)

If you watch TV on a high definition screen, each image of your favorite show is made up of approximately two million tiny dots called pixels. Currently, my favorite show is Top Gear (BBC America). On the one hand, I could press my nose right up to the screen to try and see the individual pixels that make up Top Gear. If I do this, I will never enjoy the new season and will likely need an ophthalmologist. On the other hand, I could sit on my comfy couch at a reasonable distance from the screen. I won't see the pixels from the davenport, but I will enjoy the antics of Jeremy, Richard, James, The Stig, and "the star in a reasonably priced car." I see the big picture when I take a step back from the screen because a pixel is not the big picture.

God blessed Abraham with a son (Isaac). That blessing was a pixel, not the big picture. God told Abraham to take a step back if he wanted to the big picture. God told Abraham to take a step back and look up at the stars. Every star was a blessing God had in store for Abraham. To see the enormity of the big picture, Abraham had to take a step back to see the billions and billions of blessings including Isaac. In fact, Abraham couldn't fully love Isaac until he saw Isaac's place in God's big picture...and his own! Abraham and Isaac were each single stars in God's vast firmament.

You take a step back, too. Look at your Bible. Abraham was a pixel. Isaac was a pixel. David was a pixel. All the blessings of the Bible were pixels. Don't stare at the pixels, step back and see the big picture. Every blessing in the Bible is a pixel. The pixels combines to form a single big picture: the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the big picture.

Take a step back. Consider your life. If you are at all like me, you stare at the day to day pixels and miss the big picture of God. Don't get so focused on the small matters of life that you miss the big picture. The big picture is Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:2 says we should “fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith....”

Are you staring at pixels or seeing the face of Jesus Christ? Are you seeing big picture?

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion (5 July 2013)

[Abraham] “...believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Gal 3:6)

Abraham believed God. Way to go Abraham! There's more to the story than just "Abraham believed God." Abraham doubted God at times, too (read Genesis 12, you'll see). Abraham both believed and doubted. And Abraham isn't alone in the Bible. In Mark's gospel, a man who asked Jesus to heal his son said, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). Like Abraham, this man believed and doubted. Jesus even chose an apostle who became known for his doubting: Doubting Thomas. Thomas believed...and doubted. These believers, Abraham, the man from Mark's gospel, and Thomas were human beings just like you and me. All believers doubt sometimes and believe sometimes.

Even though we doubt, God is greater than our doubts. Abraham was saved. Thomas was saved. Jesus healed the man's son in Mark's Gospel. We doubt, but God remains faithful. Our doubt does not negate God's goodness, greatness, and grace. God loves doubters! Jesus died for doubted. The key lesson from the doubt-belief of these men is that in spite of times of doubt, they kept on believing. God didn't give up on Abraham and Abraham didn't give up on God.

Don't you give up on God because you sometimes doubt. God will never give up on you. You are just like Abraham, the man from Mark's gospel, and the apostle Thomas. God never gives up. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). As the rock band Journey said, "Don't stop believing!"

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion (4 July 2013)

Galatians 3: 1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Foolishness is a form of insanity. Foolishness is continuing to do things that have not worked in the past, are not working in the present, and will not work in the future. Foolishness, like insanity, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Galatians in the past tried to earn salvation by obedience to rules and laws. It didn't work. Living legalistically only made them guilty and unhappy. Feeling guilty and unhappy, they sinned more and not less.

In other words, they were just like us. Legalism didn't work then, doesn't work now, won't work tomorrow, and never will work. Nonetheless people keep returning to it. Worse still, people keep imposing failed legalism on others. Legalism, like misery, loves company. As one radio personality is fond of saying, "I'm not happy till you're not happy." That’s legalism: everyone is unhappy. So, where is legalism making you guilty and unhappy? Leave the law behind and live a life of grace, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Where are you being foolish? Stop doing over and over again what has not worked in the past. Ask God to show you new ways. God gladly gives wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). Ask today.

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (ESV).

I am not who I was. Before I met Christ, I was one person. Afraid. Angry. Hurting. Darkened. That person died when Jesus died. Occasionally, ok daily, ok hourly, ok minute by minute, ok ok second by second, that dark person tries to rise from the dead like some Hollywood zombie. Worse, I even help dig him up sometimes. Still, even though I fail and fall, in spite of my frailty, I still say that I am not who I was before. I am not who I was. And while that is good, there is something even better. I am not yet who I one day will be. I am not fully the person God will one day make me. I am in between this world and the next. I am in between cross and crown. Paul calls this “in-between-ness” "the life I now live in the flesh." How shall we live this life in between cross and crown? How shall I live on earth but destined for heaven? Since we believe Jesus loved us and died for us, we will love others the same way Jesus loved us. This is how we will live our life in the flesh until we rise as Jesus is risen.

Growing With Galatians Daily Devotion

Gal 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV)

To be justified is to be declared innocent by a judge. The idea is that a justified person is innocent, good, worthy of love and respect, and valuable. Paul is saying that a person is not declared innocent, good, worthy of love and respect, and valuable because of what he or she has done. The reason no one is declared innocent? No one is. Instead, a person is declared innocent, good, worthy of love and respect, and valuable because of Jesus Christ. Jesus is innocent and those who believe in Him are too. Not because we are perfect (we aren’t), but because Jesus is perfect. Since everyone is justified in the same way (through Christ), none of us is better (or worse) than anyone else. In the light of our sameness in Christ, whom have you disrespected? Whom have thought unworthy of love? Whom have you undervalued? Whom have you ignored? Turned away from? Remember, we are ALL justified in the same way. The greatest and the least are level in Jesus Christ. If we are all the same, we see each other eye-to-eye and face-to-face. We look down on no one.

Growing with Galatians Daily Devotion

Galatians 2:13 And the rest of the [divided congregation] acted hypocritically along with [Peter], so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. (ESV)

People sometimes say, "The church is just a bunch of hypocrites." They are surprised when I, a pastor, say, "You're right. The church is a bunch of hypocrites, but there’s a worse problem. The worse problem is that some of them are unaware of their hypocrisy." What is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is someone who defends certain moral standards, but does not live according to those very standards. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. The church is full of frail humans who do not ever fully live up to their own beliefs and they know it. They are hypocrites and know it. Knowing their hypocrisy, they become humble and nonjudgmental toward others. These people are not the problem. There are others in the church who act as if they are NOT hypocrites, but they are. They act as if they actually walked the walk they so loudly talk. Believing in their own moral superiority, or at least acting as if they believed it, such people are proud and judgmental. These people are a big problem for the church and for themselves. St. John writes "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). The church is a place filled hypocrisy and the height of hypocrisy within the church is its failure to admit its hypocrisy. The church is a hospital for hypocrites, not a quarantine for the righteous alone. The church should be more like Hypocrites Anonymous. Each of us should confess, "Hello, my name is...and I am a recovering hypocrite. St. John continues, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).