Awestruck Day 4: Absolution & Atonement

Absolution is not dilution of sin; that is, to outweigh your bad deeds by doing more good deeds, and thus diluting your sin. 
Absolve does not mean to “dissolve” our sins; that is, to make our sins less obvious but still in our mixture. 
When God forgives us, He absolutely releases us from sins. We are “free indeed” (see John 8:32).

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” ⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6

Absolution by God: “Your iniquity is taken away…your sin purged.” Notice how quickly and how thoroughly the seraphim responded to Isaiah’s confession. He flew with the tongs and coal to absolve and purge the sins of the prophet so that he could be made useful (see 2 Tim. 2:21). 

Atonement with God: The word used in King James “purge” is “kaphar” and is translated 71 times in the Old Testament as atonement, and means to reconcile and to atone for sins. Someone has said that atonement means to be “at one” with God.

When we lay our sins at the altar in our prayer closets, we need to leave them there. To absolve means to release and loosen completely from sin. 

Jesus tells us we also absolve or “loosen” others from sin. “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). Again, Matthew 18:18 says, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Finally, John 20:23 says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Obviously Jesus is not saying that we ourselves have the power to forgive sins, but rather He is able to forgive sins through us. Wherever you proclaim the message of Christ’s forgiveness, you participate with Christ in sin’s absolution. And certainly, beginning in your prayer time, you and I need to release people who have sinned against us. God gives us the keys to release others.

When He asks “Whom shall I send,” our heart cry should be “Here am I, send me.”