Do you want to come to Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord of your life but think that you’re too wretched for God to forgive you? Maybe you’ve had an abortion, maybe you’ve just been released from serving time in prison for murdering some people, maybe you’ve committed adultery. Can God really forgive a person like you? Why in the world would He want anything to do with a person like you? Can God really forgive you?
Yes, God can and will forgive you. I can tell you that right now. You might say “But Evan, you don’t know all of the things I’ve done. You don’t even know who I am. How can you be so sure that God will forgive me?” True. I don’t know your situation. I don’t know what you may or may not have done. I don’t know who all might read this blog post. For all I know, a Jack The Ripper type of person could be reading this blog post right now. But it doesn’t matter, I know with certainty that God is willing to forgive you for what you’ve done.
The Bible teaches that God loved the whole world so much that He became incarnate to suffer the punishment that we deserve for our sins. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son. So that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Pay attention closely to what those words say; “For God so loved the world…” Why does Jesus use those words “the world”? Because He’s telling Nicodemus (the person he’s talking to in this passage) that He didn’t merely come to die for the sins of a few people, but for the entire human race. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. So that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Who is a part of the world? Are you a part of the world? Am I part of this world? Was Adolf Hitler part of this world? What about Osama Bin Ladin? Was he a part of this world? What about the members of ISIS? Are they part of the world? The obvious answer is yes to all of those questions. If a person is living in “the world”, then according to John 3:16, God loved that person and died on the cross to atone for the sins of that person, so “that whosoever [[i.e just anybody]] who believes in him [Jesus] will not perish but have eternal life.” This is corroborated in the Apostle John’s first epistle. In 1 John 2:2, the apostle John writes “…Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 Timothy 2:4-6 says “This is good and pleases God our savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”
The Bible plainly teaches that Jesus died on the cross for the entire human race, and that God wants every human being to be saved and that’s why He gave his son for everyone. What this means is that God is not only willing to forgive you, He WANTS to forgive you. He desires to see you saved from your past sins. If this were not the case, He would never have died for you. Since He did die for you (as the scriptures above say) then you can be forgiven. Jesus suffered a horrible death (crucifixion on a Roman cross) because He was suffering God’s wrath on your behalf. Jesus took your punishment on the cross so that you wouldn’t have to take it. Jesus was tortured so that you wouldn’t have to be. You don’t have to go to Hell to be tormented for the sins you’ve comitted because Jesus was tormented on your behalf. He loved you so much that He couldn’t bare the thought of being separated from you for eternity (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
Moreover, in John 6:37, Jesus says “All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will by no means cast out”. He said a few verses later “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40). Do you get what Jesus is saying? He’s saying in John 6:37 that “by no means” will He cast you out if you out if you come to Him! “By no means” will you be turned away! By saying “whoever comes to me, I will by no means cast out”, Jesus was saying “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. I will forgive you regardless.” He said in John 6:40 that God The Father’s will is that everyone who looks to Jesus gain eternal life. What follows from Jesus’ statement is that even if someone as bad as the extremely evil members of ISIS or the Nazis were to look to Him, they would be forgiven of their sins and gain eternal life. I think it’s clear from these 2 verses in John 6 that no sinner is too terrible for God to forgive.
All you have to do is “come to him” (John 6:37), and look to Him for salvation (John 6:40) ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to save you. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Listen to that; “ALL unrighteousness”! Not some unrighteousness, but all unrighteousness. Isaiah 55:7 says “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to The Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.” Isaiah doesn’t give any qualifier to this statement. He doesn’t say “unless that wicked man has done X, Y, and Z…then all bets are off.” No. There are no qualifiers. It just says that the wicked man should forsake his way and God will have mercy on him. He will freely pardon the person who turns away from his wicked ways and turns instead to God.
In conclusion, you are not unforgivable. God, since he wants everyone saved, therefore wants you saved. Since Jesus died for everyone, He therefore died for you. Since God wants you saved, and because Jesus died for you, you can therefore be forgiven. After all, Jesus wouldn’t shed His blood for a person if He had no intention on forgiving all of their sins. Jesus said that anyone who comes Him, He will by no means cast out. Acts 10:43 says “…everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” f everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name, and if you come to believe in Him, you therefore will receive forgiveness in his name. So don’t worry about being “unforgivable”. Acts 10:43 is a promise. If anyone believes in Jesus, they receive forgiveness of sins through His name.
I think the biblical evidence is conclusive that whoever you are who is reading this right now, and whatever you might have done, you are not beyond God’s forgiveness. God is ready to forgive you. God is eager to forgive you (see The Parable Of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32). Are you ready to receive that forgiveness? In that case, I advise you to visit the the page titled “What Must I Do To Be Saved”. On that page, I’ve typed what’s known as “The Sinner’s Prayer”.You can read that prayer aloud and make it yours. And when you do, I promise you that you will have gained the right to be called a child of God (John 1:12). After you pray that prayer, continue to read the “What Must I Do To Be Saved” page because I then tell you where to go from there.
Also, remember that no good works can save you. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9. All you can “do” is place your faith in Christ. The Bible says “In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7).
