God's Forgiveness
Some people's excuse for rejecting a faith in Christ is that they're too deep into whatever sin they're in to be saved -- that it's just too late for them. This sort of an explanation is actually just a front; it's not that they're too deep in to whatever to be saved, it's that they're too deep into whatever to want to be saved.
There is really no such thing as being too far gone into sin to be saved. Jesus's blood covers any sin and washes it away, no matter how much of it there is, because Jesus possesses the unique quality of being able to forgive everything. There might be some things that we might not be able to forgive other people of, certain crimes or transgressions that are simply too much to forgive and forget. But what separates humans from God is that God forgives anything, forgets the wrongdoing, and will give someone a new life in his light if they will only accept it.
Jesus himself points out how God will forgive and forget, how that is Jesus's whole purpose in coming to earth and dying for us, and how there is literally rejoicing in heaven because of one sinner repenting:
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answering said unto them, "They that are whole don't need a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
-Luke 5:30-32
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he finds it? I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
-Luke 15:4,7
The Bible gives some excellent examples of Jesus's forgiveness. One is the account of the "sinner" woman who gives Jesus a welcome better than that of the religious leaders of the time:
And, behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had invited him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him; for she is a sinner." And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon (the Pharisee), "See this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet; but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint; but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto you, 'her sins, which are many are forgiven.'" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
-Luke 7:37-39,44-47a,50
If this isn't an example of someone being rescued from "too deep" sin, I don't know what is. This woman was probably a prostitute, someone who was as far from being godly as a person can get. And yet, when she heard that Jesus was near to her, she left her profession, and basically groveled before Jesus's feet, giving him a gesture of love and repentance that would be rivaled for all time to come. She is actually, in my opinion, one of the most fortunate people in history. How many other people have had the opportunity to be that close to Jesus in his physical form, to be forgiven of such deep sin right at the feet of the Master before those feet were pierced on the cross?
A deeper look into forgiveness is given to us by the account of the woman caught in adultery. This account from the book of John is where we get our expression "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" from, as the old King James version puts it.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned; but what do you say?" This they said, tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he didn't hear them. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, "woman, where are those your accusers? Has no man condemned you?" She said "no man, Lord." And Jesus said unto her, "neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more."
-John 8:3-11
You want to talk about being deep into trouble, this woman had reached the end of her rope for sure. Not only had she been caught committing adultery, but that required that she be stoned to death (not a humane execution by any means.) Can you imagine how bad it must have looked for this woman, a convicted adulteress, about to be killed, accused before the Lord himself? But Jesus saw things differently. What Jesus saw was a woman who just needed forgiving, and a bunch of people standing around her who just wanted to trap Jesus and get him out of their way permanently. (FYI: some Bible scholars think that the people who brought the woman to Jesus were the ones she was committing adultery with, and that Jesus was writing their names in the ground.)
After saving the woman's life, Jesus forgave her. She was blatantly guilty of adultery, there was no question that sin had been done, but Jesus forgave her. And the last part is perhaps the most important, "go, and sin no more." When Jesus rescues us from something, it is important that we don't go back to it. Jesus doesn't save us just so we can go back to sin again.
As is illustrated by these accounts, Jesus will forgive people no matter how deep they are into sin. It's never too late, it's just a matter of how willing the people themselves are to be forgiven. Jesus reaches out his hand to everyone, all they have to do is take it. That, in fact, is the whole reason why Jesus came to earth and died for us, as stated above in the account of the woman who rubbed Jesus's feet with her hair. It's the sin that controls some people that makes them think they're in too deep; but Jesus is here for everyone.
The truth is, we need to tell the devil to back up, we have every right to every benefit God has for his children. We need to resist the devil and he will flee when we come back with right and truth on our side with the word of God that says all things are ours, whether things present or things to come. Heaven is ours and no demon in hell can keep it from us if we don't believe a lie. Truth is, there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ.
Anyway, don't ever let the devil tell you different.How true this is! Jesus died to give us access to God's love and forgiveness. The only way the devil can keep us from God is by tricking us into not going to him. Today, don't let the weight and guilt of your past (or your present) keep you from the Lord who "is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
Some people's excuse for rejecting a faith in Christ is that they're too deep into whatever sin they're in to be saved -- that it's just too late for them. This sort of an explanation is actually just a front; it's not that they're too deep in to whatever to be saved, it's that they're too deep into whatever to want to be saved.
There is really no such thing as being too far gone into sin to be saved. Jesus's blood covers any sin and washes it away, no matter how much of it there is, because Jesus possesses the unique quality of being able to forgive everything. There might be some things that we might not be able to forgive other people of, certain crimes or transgressions that are simply too much to forgive and forget. But what separates humans from God is that God forgives anything, forgets the wrongdoing, and will give someone a new life in his light if they will only accept it.
Jesus himself points out how God will forgive and forget, how that is Jesus's whole purpose in coming to earth and dying for us, and how there is literally rejoicing in heaven because of one sinner repenting:
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answering said unto them, "They that are whole don't need a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
-Luke 5:30-32
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he finds it? I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
-Luke 15:4,7
The Bible gives some excellent examples of Jesus's forgiveness. One is the account of the "sinner" woman who gives Jesus a welcome better than that of the religious leaders of the time:
And, behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had invited him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him; for she is a sinner." And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon (the Pharisee), "See this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet; but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint; but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto you, 'her sins, which are many are forgiven.'" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
-Luke 7:37-39,44-47a,50
If this isn't an example of someone being rescued from "too deep" sin, I don't know what is. This woman was probably a prostitute, someone who was as far from being godly as a person can get. And yet, when she heard that Jesus was near to her, she left her profession, and basically groveled before Jesus's feet, giving him a gesture of love and repentance that would be rivaled for all time to come. She is actually, in my opinion, one of the most fortunate people in history. How many other people have had the opportunity to be that close to Jesus in his physical form, to be forgiven of such deep sin right at the feet of the Master before those feet were pierced on the cross?
A deeper look into forgiveness is given to us by the account of the woman caught in adultery. This account from the book of John is where we get our expression "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" from, as the old King James version puts it.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned; but what do you say?" This they said, tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he didn't hear them. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, "woman, where are those your accusers? Has no man condemned you?" She said "no man, Lord." And Jesus said unto her, "neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more."
-John 8:3-11
You want to talk about being deep into trouble, this woman had reached the end of her rope for sure. Not only had she been caught committing adultery, but that required that she be stoned to death (not a humane execution by any means.) Can you imagine how bad it must have looked for this woman, a convicted adulteress, about to be killed, accused before the Lord himself? But Jesus saw things differently. What Jesus saw was a woman who just needed forgiving, and a bunch of people standing around her who just wanted to trap Jesus and get him out of their way permanently. (FYI: some Bible scholars think that the people who brought the woman to Jesus were the ones she was committing adultery with, and that Jesus was writing their names in the ground.)
After saving the woman's life, Jesus forgave her. She was blatantly guilty of adultery, there was no question that sin had been done, but Jesus forgave her. And the last part is perhaps the most important, "go, and sin no more." When Jesus rescues us from something, it is important that we don't go back to it. Jesus doesn't save us just so we can go back to sin again.
As is illustrated by these accounts, Jesus will forgive people no matter how deep they are into sin. It's never too late, it's just a matter of how willing the people themselves are to be forgiven. Jesus reaches out his hand to everyone, all they have to do is take it. That, in fact, is the whole reason why Jesus came to earth and died for us, as stated above in the account of the woman who rubbed Jesus's feet with her hair. It's the sin that controls some people that makes them think they're in too deep; but Jesus is here for everyone.
The truth is, we need to tell the devil to back up, we have every right to every benefit God has for his children. We need to resist the devil and he will flee when we come back with right and truth on our side with the word of God that says all things are ours, whether things present or things to come. Heaven is ours and no demon in hell can keep it from us if we don't believe a lie. Truth is, there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ.
Anyway, don't ever let the devil tell you different.How true this is! Jesus died to give us access to God's love and forgiveness. The only way the devil can keep us from God is by tricking us into not going to him. Today, don't let the weight and guilt of your past (or your present) keep you from the Lord who "is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
