“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   ~ 1 John 1:9

This is the biggie for everyone, the one unremitting question, will God ever forgive me? The unequivocal answer is . . . yes! It doesn't matter what you've done, God will forgive you. It's right there in the good book, there isn't any sin that God won't forgive! Jesus died for all sin. That means every person, every wrongdoing, every time and place anywhere in the world, in every day and every age. So that pretty much covers everyone . . . including you and me.

“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”   ~ 1 John 2:2

We all think our sin is the worst, the one that God will not forgive. I use to think that backsliding was the one unpardonable sin, and believe me, I backslid many times, too many times to count. I'd do something wrong and then think it was so bad that God would never forgive me, so I'd just give up. I'd give up on God—give up on my only source of, not only forgiveness but empowerment to walk away from future sin.

“Return, you backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings.”   ~ Jeremiah 3:22

Walking away and permanently giving up on God is, oddly enough, the only way to not get to heaven. That is actually the only unpardonable sin! It seems that it’s not about what we don't do as much as what we do. We must simply ask for forgiveness and then believe we have received it. There isn't a sin that God won't forgive, all we have to do is ask. If Jesus can forgive the people that killed Him, I’m pretty sure He will forgive you and me for anything we’ve ever done.

“Then Jesus said, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do…”   ~ Luke 23:34

God gave us free will and He will never take this from us. With that said, we must choose to walk away from Him. We have to literally turn our backs on Him because He will never leave us. He wants to lead us in all that we do if only we would follow. That’s a promise and it's repeated over and over again in His holy word.

“And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”   ~ Deuteronomy 31:8

He never turns away from us! When we choose to partake in sin, we are turning away from God and choosing to listen to Satan.

Who you gonna call?

If we're on the phone talking with God, Satan will get a busy signal. Now that won't stop him from redialing, but, simply put, we can't be in contact with both at the same time. If we choose to listen to Satan, we must hang up on Jesus. We must choose who we’re going to call and talk to, as well as listen to.

Honestly, there have been so many times in my life that I just hung up on God because I didn't like what He was saying to me, or didn't want to be patient and wait for His timing. I'd just give up and go my own way and try to force my own agenda.

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…”   ~ Isaiah 40:31

Yes, I’ve literally walked away from God, I've been so gone for so long that I really thought God would never want to hear from me ever again. But to my surprise, He always welcomes me back with open arms, forgives me, wipes the sin off of me, and gives me yet another do-over.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”   ~ Acts 3:19

Now that we’re beginning to understand God’s total forgiveness and grace… please join me again next week as we learn the extreme extent of this unearned forgiveness: “Will God forgive me? - Part 2”

Read the conclusion on my next post, or sign up below for an email reminder.