I suffer from gospel amnesia. I forget repeatedly what Christ has done for me. I stray from him. I doubt his kindness. I question his forgiveness. I need the gospel every day. I need to be regularly brought back to gospel sanity.
Martin Luther in his commentary on Galatians says as much, “The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart.”
Isn’t that the truth. The news that God has declared us righteous in Christ, has removed the guilt and condemnation of our sin, and considers us innocent is quite difficult to go on believing day after day. Our experience contradicts our position many times. We the guiltless know the guilt of sin. We the righteous know we do unrighteousness. We the pure are often impure.
The fact that our experience militates against the truth of our position before God points to the fact that we need to hear the promise of justification again and again. Faith looks not at what is seen but beyond that to what is certain and that is God’s promise. His promise is a promise of liberation. The cross is about justification and justification is about freedom. It was for freedom that Christ set us free.
We need to hear that God has justified us in Christ day after day—indeed incessantly. This incessant reminder has the effect of breaking our shackles of guilt and shame and compelling us in our freedom to love God and neighbor. We need it daily.