As believers in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, guiding us away from what is wrong and guiding us toward what is right. Yet we also have something else living in us….our wretched sinful nature. Paul talks about this battle in Romans chapter 7 when he laments, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15).
Sometimes that sin is a “slip-up,” maybe an unplanned irritable response of snapping at someone instead of responding with patience. But sometimes that sin is blatant rebellion of knowing what God wants us to do, and deliberately choosing to sin instead.
I don’t know about you, but it is a lot easier for me to forgive someone who accidentally sins against me than someone who deliberately sins against me. But God’s forgiveness is so different from our flawed human forgiveness. He is eager to forgive and restore us, even after we have willingly, blatantly, stepped into the mud pits of sin.
Isaiah 30:18 describes God as both just and compassionate. “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
If we “wait for Him,” slowing down and seeking Him, we will find Him directing us back to Him in repentance.
Why is that? Because God’s love is perfect, and ours is not. God created us to live in communion with Himself, and our sin disrupts that communion. The lengths that God will go to restore that communion are astonishing, staggering, and matchless— and we need only to go back to the cross to see it.
We tend to carry our guilt and shame around like a trophy…needlessly reasoning that THIS sin is one that God won’t want to forgive. We knew it was wrong. We chose it anyway. And we can’t claim we didn’t know what we were doing.
Yet God will forgive even THAT SIN when we repentantly approach Him for restoration. Restoring us to Himself is ALWAYS His goal.
Peter experienced this restoration in John chapter 21 when Jesus lovingly restored him to a place of service after Peter denied Christ. Peter had being warned in advance of the sin of denying Christ (John 13:38), yet Peter chose to deny Him anyway. Verse 17 describes Peter’s remorse, and verse 19 tells of his restoration to a place of service and the call Jesus was placing on His life….despite Peter’s sin.
God doesn’t hate sin because it broke a rule. God hates sin because it disrupts the harmonious relationship with Him that He created us for.
Restoration is always possible. The cross made a way. If you need to understand more about that, please go to bobbieperkins.com and read the message tab at the top.
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us,” (Psalm 103:8-12).
Restoration changes our relationship with God, and it changes us. Sometimes when we leave His side, it makes us realize that we never want to leave His side again. It will still sometimes happen. But hopefully it will become less often, and we know from experience that we don’t have far to go for restoration. Our Father meets us halfway…”But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him,” (Luke 15:20b).
He ran to me. He will do the same for you.
