Becoming a Christian
Can God forgive me, whatever I’ve done?
Yes. However heavy the things on your conscience, the Bible’s promise is that anyone who turns to Jesus will be forgiven completely.
No one is too far gone
Many people feel they have done too much wrong for God to want them. The apostle Paul could have felt the same. Before he became a Christian he hunted Christians down and had them imprisoned. He later wrote:
The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
And Jesus himself made this promise:
All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
How complete is God’s forgiveness?
The Bible piles up pictures to make the point. Our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west. They are thrown into the depths of the sea. Stains as deep as scarlet are made as white as snow.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
How can God simply forgive?
He doesn’t “simply” forgive, as though wrongdoing didn’t matter. He forgives because Jesus took the consequences of our sin on the cross. That is why forgiveness can be both complete and just. Nothing you have done is bigger than what Jesus has done.
A father running
Jesus told a story about a son who insulted his father, left home and wasted everything he had been given. When he finally came back, expecting at best to be taken on as a servant, this is what happened:
But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
That, Jesus said, is what God is like.
What about the “unforgivable sin”?
Jesus once warned about a sin that would not be forgiven (Mark 3:28–29), and some people fear they have committed it. Most Christian teachers understand him to mean a settled, final refusal of the Holy Spirit’s witness to Jesus. It is not a careless word or a dark thought. If you are worried about it and want to be forgiven, that is a good sign that you have not committed it.
What to do
Tell God honestly what you have done, ask him to forgive you because Jesus died for you, and trust his promise that he has. Where you have hurt other people, being forgiven by God will also mean wanting to put things right with them as far as you can.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When you still feel guilty
Feelings often lag behind facts. If God says you are forgiven, you are, whether or not you feel it yet. It can help a great deal to talk with a church leader or a Christian you trust, and to hear someone else say out loud what God has promised.