I have long understood the salvation of man. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He bore the burden and the consequence of our sins, past, present, and future. This is a fact that I have been able to embrace. However, I have, for some reason, constructed it in my mind to mean that once you have been born again, only unintentional sin is covered.
I had determined that a believer who intentionally sins is the most horrific being in existence. Imagine my sadness to realize that I had become one of these despicable creatures. I spent many months after my disgraceful choices unable to forgive myself, let alone consider a moment of thought that God would forgive me. I have since learned to accept God’s forgiveness and to forgive myself. But it was only quite recently that I found an answer to my burning question, “Does God forgive His children who intentionally sin?”
The answer is Luke 15.
A man had two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance to be given to him immediately, and the man did. The younger son traveled to another country and blew his inheritance. He was then broke, just as a famine broke out in the land. He took a job feeding pigs that barely paid anything. He even dreamed of being able to eat the slop that he fed to the pigs.
He realized one day that his own father’s servants had it better than he had it at that time. He decided to go back home and tell his father that he knew he had made some mistakes and disgraced his father. He decided he was going to tell his father that he knew he was no longer worthy to be his son and asked to be made one of the servants.
When his son was a still a long way off, the father heard his prodigal son was returning. He told his servants to bring the best robe and sandals to clothe him with and a ring to put on his finger. He told them to prepare the best food. Why? Because the son he thought was dead and lost forever was returning home to him and he was going to celebrate!
Jesus told this story because this is what God is like. When believers make selfish, destructive, hateful, evil decisions, and the Holy Sprit convicts us and we decide to return to Him, our tail between our legs, knowing we don’t deserve reinstatement as children of the King, God blows us clean away. He welcomes us back into the family, not as servants or red-headed step children, but with wide open arms to embrace us as His beloved children.
But why? Why would God do this when we are the worst human beings on the planet? It is so simple, it should have never troubled my heart and mind. When God looks at us, as we approach the throne of Grace, He sees Jesus. He doesn’t see our sin. If we are truly seeking His forgiveness, we will have it given to us.
So, here I stand, saved, forgiven, and free. I am confident and secure in my place in the family of God. At the same time, I am amazingly humbled.
