How Can God Forgive What I Have Done?

The evil influence of Satan can be seen everywhere in the world (see our prior post) and so many of us have been fooled. In fact, many of us have been making poor choices for such a long time that we believe that God could never love us again. In many of these cases the though that God could forgive us for all of the things that we have done is just not comprehendible!

But we must challenge these beliefs. The truth is that God is a loving and compassionate Father who longs for us to repent of our sins and to return to Him.

Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him. (Luke17:3 – 4)

In fact, God is proactive in His quest to restore all men to what was lost in the Garden of Eden. In this regard, God has sent His profits and priests to speak His truth to us. They have proclaimed the coming of God’s Son and their prophecies have been fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Son of the Father.

In Jesus, the Father was able to demonstrate His true nature, His love for us, His desire for our good health, His wish for our prosperity and for all of us to be free of the devils’ bondage.

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:5 – 9)

The Father has communicated to us through the words of Jesus all the things that are in His heart,

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:37 – 40)

for Jesus said; “as I see the Father do, so I also do.” God communicated that He wants us all to turn away from evil, repent and set our hearts on Him. He even sent His Son to give His life on the cross so that the bondage and domination of the devil would be broken.

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:17 – 19)

The Power of Prayer

Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God demonstrated to the world how deep His love is for us. For in the shedding of blood of Jesus, God redeemed His people. By the stripes on the back of Jesus we are healed. The suffering of Jesus was the price that had to be paid for the forgiveness of man’s sin.

Jesus Nailed to the Cross

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4 – 5)

In essence, Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves; He exchanged His life for ours.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28

He broke the curse of the law, which was that man could not live in accordance with God’s law on his own merit and with his own effort.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13 – 14)

The love of Jesus therefore ended the age of man’s interpretation of God’s laws and the creation of his own rules.

Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:10

God replaced all of this with the infilling of the Holy Sprit who now leads man into God’s love, truth and perfection.

The Holy Spirit

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26

Rather than rules and laws we are called by Jesus to change our hearts.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27 – 28)

So, the answer to the question, “how can God forgive me for what I have done,” becomes much simpler. It no longer is a matter of what we have done in our lives because the ransom has already been paid by Jesus on the cross. The work of reconciliation with the Father has been reestablished as Jesus has taken our just punishment upon Himself on the cross. He has defeated Satan and freed the captives who were under Satan’s dominion at that time. He has risen into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father, and He will judge the living and the dead.

And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. Acts 10:39 – 43

All He is looking for is for us to choose Him, to repent from our sinful ways and to follow in His footsteps.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:24 – 28)

The Transfigured Jesus With Moses And Elijah

So, if you have not already done so, please do it now. Speak with your lips the following words. Say: sweet Jesus, I declare you to be my Lord and Savior. I repent of all my evil ways and I renounce the devil. Sweet Lord, come into my heart and my life. I surrender to you Lord, take me into your arms and protect me for evermore. Let all my life choices be in one accord with your Holy Spirit. Help me choose good over evil, light over darkness, right over wrong, life over death, love over hate and God the Father, Son and Holy Sprit over all others, always and forever.