Why You Still Don't Have Peace (Even Though You're Forgiven)

There’s a tension many people live with: they believe God forgives—but they don’t feel free.

You read the words "I'm forgiven." You hear the pastor say it from the stage. You might even know a scripture or two that says the same. In other words, you know it. But if you’re honest, there’s still something lingering beneath the surface. A weight. A memory. Or maybe a voice that keeps bringing it back up. Consequently, you struggle with feeling God's peace.

So what’s going on?

In John 20, the disciples are hiding behind locked doors after Jesus’ crucifixion. They’re afraid—but they’re also likely dealing with something deeper: regret. They ran and hid. One of them denied Jesus outright. And now they’re sitting in the aftermath of their failure.

Then Jesus walks into the room.

Not with disappointment. Not with questions. Not with correction.

He says, “Peace be with you.”

Hang on to this for a moment. Some of you reading this can't get past the fact that someone didn't show up to your birthday party. Or the early morning gym workout you scheduled together. Or on a more serious note, maybe you're upset over your friend not showing up for you at the hospital. 

Jesus' closest relationships...the disciples...his friends...abandoned him in his greatest hour of need. He faced death alone. But Jesus doesn't show up in this locked room to lay a guilt trip or to ask "Where were you??!!" Instead, he appears and offers peace. The shalom of God. 

That moment tells us something powerful: peace isn’t something we achieve—it’s something Jesus gives. But it also reveals the tension we still live in today. Because even though Jesus offers peace, many of us still don’t experience it.

Why?

Because forgiveness has been offered—but not fully received.

Psalm 103 says your sin is removed as far as the east is from the west. Micah 7 says it’s been hurled into the depths of the sea. Romans 8 says there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

That’s not partial forgiveness. That’s complete removal.

And yet, many of us keep going back to what God already got rid of. We replay it. Revisit it. Re-carry it. 

Like most of you reading this, I have on occasion lost an important document or fallen victim to a vanishing set of keys. What have I done on such occasion? I've had to go dumpster diving through my trash can to see if it was accidentally thrown away. 

And here lies the similarity. The scriptures tell you and me our sin has been dealt with. Completely removed and irretrievable. As far as the east is from the west or like it's been thrown into the vast depths of the sea. That's what your sin is like before God. It doesn't even exist. 

Yet how often do we treat sin like something we can still retrieve from the trash can? It's smelly and gross. We recognize it's not good and don't want it around. But at the end of the day, if we need to pull something out of it, we can. It's available to us. 

But that's not the picture God gives us of our sin. That's not how God calls us to walk in freedom or to run this race. You get to receive the free gift of God's grace and your sin is forever gone. The only choice in front of you to experience God's true peace is to receive the gift of his forgiveness. 

Peace begins when you stop carrying what Jesus has already dealt with once and for all. Receive his grace and forgiveness today.