Wherefore, as during our whole lives we carry about with us the remains of sin, we could not continue in the Church one single moment were we not sustained by the uninterrupted grace of God in forgiving our sins. On the other hand, the Lord has called his people to eternal salvation, and therefore they ought to consider that pardon for their sins is always ready. Hence let us surely hold that if we are admitted and ingrafted into the body of the Church, the forgiveness of sins has been bestowed, and is daily bestowed on us, in divine liberality, through the intervention of Christ's merits and the sanctification of the Spirit.
John Calvin, 1509-1564, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 1, 21 (translated by Henry Beveridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1975, Volume II, p. 298)
How important is it to have a clear understanding of God's forgiveness? How can we develop that?
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