GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES
The Bibles says: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES ALTHOUGH ALL ARE SINNERS
- The biblical Word of God informs us (2 Timothy 3:16-17): All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Roman 5:8).
- The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
- If you repent and confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9).
GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES WHEN WE GO ASTRAY AND RETURN
Jesus used a parable of a “prodigal son” to illustrate how God loves and forgives his children who go astray and return.
In the parable, a young man did not think wisely or seriously about what his loving and caring Father said. His Father told him, “All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but of the world” (1 John 2:16). Nevertheless, the young man prematurely ask his Father for his inheritance, and went out into the world.
He got into “riotous living.” After spending all his money, he reached a depressive bottom in life. He was abandoned by his friends and alienated from other people. He started to hang out with pigs. But when he thought about his loving Father, “he came to his senses.”
Although he no longer felt worthy to be called his Father’s son, he decided to go home. When he returned home, he confessed to his Father, “I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called you son.” But the Father welcomed him with open arms, and celebrated his return (Luke 15:11-24).
OUR FATHER GOD SAYS:
“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy” (Isaiah 55:7). And God says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; because of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ his Son (1 John 1:7-9). God leads all heaven to rejoice over even one soul who repents in thinking and deeds, and believe in Jesus Christ as their loving Savior and Lord. (John 3;16; Acts 2:38; Luke 15:7).
