Forgiveness

by Rachel F.

Perhaps you’re reading this because you’ve wondered about the greatness of God’s forgiveness, or maybe you’ve pondered whether God could forgive you, or what is required on your part to receive God’s forgiveness. Let’s look at each of those issues.

How great is God’s love? Well, the writer of Psalm 86:5 says, “For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that the God of creation is ‘ready to forgive’? All we need to do is call upon Him. 

Isaiah 55:7 says “Let the wicked abandon his way, And the unrighteous person his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” This covers it all! God offers compassion and pardon to the wicked person with wrong actions, and to the unrighteous person with bad thoughts. Isn’t that all of us sometimes?

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the greatest gift of love! God offered His own Son to provide forgiveness for our sins. But you must accept this gift in order to have your sins forgiven and receive eternal life. 

Could God forgive you? Maybe you think I just don’t know what you’ve done, and it’s so bad that it couldn’t be forgiven. Well, let’s look at some of the people that God has already forgiven. 

Jacob-cheated his twin brother Esau out of his birthright and then their father’s blessing. His brother hated him for it, and planned to kill him after their father’s death, but God forgave him. He even used Jacob’s 12 sons to create the twelve tribes of Israel.

King David-was perhaps the most famous king of Israel. He committed adultery with the beautiful Bathsheeba, and got her pregnant. He tried in vain to cover it up, but when Bathsheeba’s honorable husband Uriah wouldn’t cooperate, David murdered him. God forgave him, and even called him a man after His own heart.

The Apostle Paul-before the name change, he was Saul and a powerful persecutor of the followers of Jesus. He approved of the stoning of the Christian martyr Stephen, and guarded the coats of the people who stoned him. God forgave him and recruited him in a miraculous way to be a disciple to the Gentiles for Him. God even used him to write a large portion of the New Testament!

If God can forgive a cheat, an adulterer, a murderer, and a man who persecuted Christians, he can certainly forgive you and me, and praise God for it!!!

What do you need to do to receive God’s forgiveness? II Chronicles 30:9b says, “For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.” Don’t you see? When we feel unforgiven and far from God, we’ve moved, not God! We need to return to Him, by going to church and fellowshipping with other believers, reading our Bibles, and praying. When we return to God, He says he won’t turn His face from us.

I John 1:9 says, “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It’s just that simple! To receive forgiveness, we need to confess our sins, then God will forgive us and make us clean again. But this forgiveness is only available to individuals in God’s family. If you haven’t accepted Christ as your Savior, Romans 10:9 makes it easy, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” If you’ve just taken those two steps, you’re now in the family of God, welcome! Please join a Bible believing church and become a regular attender. May God bless you.

All Bible quotes are taken from the New American Standard Bible.