What about God’s Forgiveness?

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Muragwa from Rwanda in email asked me to explain God’s forgiveness to him.

God forgiving us, comes through His love for us and is by His amazing mercy and grace! All sin (our knowingly choosing to do something we shouldn’t do and our knowingly choosing not doing something we should do), no matter how “small,” is against an infinite and eternal God, and is therefore worthy of an infinite and eternal penalty.

Mercy and grace are often confused. While the terms have similar meanings, grace and mercy are not the same. To summarize the difference: mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.

According to the Bible, we have all sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). As a result of that sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23) and eternal judgment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God’s mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve, we would all be, right now, condemned for eternity.

The good news is, there is no sin too “big” that God cannot forgive it! God’s forgiveness is far beyond our comprehension, we’ll never completely understand it, but God’s forgiveness is real! Thank God that God’s forgiveness is real!

Reading John 3: 16 we see that; “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” Your and my sin cost Jesus His life, but His death and resurrection provided victory over sin forever to those who believe.

1 John 1: 9 says “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1: 7 says “if we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.”

God will forgive you (if you chose to let Him) because He loves you and because Jesus Christ gave his life as payment for your sins. The Bible says “He [Jesus] took all of our sins and lifted them in His body to the cross, for as we are dead to sin, we shall live in his righteousness, for by His [Jesus’] scars you [and me] have been healed” I Peter 2:24. Jesus took the weight of your and my guilt and sin so you and I could enjoy freedom in our life with God.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28.

Will you chose to go to Jesus today and let Him carry your heavy burden and give you rest? If not, why not chose to do so today?

Read more about God forgiving here: http://www.gotquestions.org/forgive-same-sin.html You can also go to http://godlife.com/forgiveness and read about God’s forgiveness. Another good resource to read about forgiveness, mercy, and grace is: http://www.gotquestions.org/mercy-grace.html

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