Job 22: 21-23 « Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way, prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent.»F
Isaiah
61: 1 « The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has
anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners. »
This series on this topic will span four
months. Each month, it will focus on a different group of people. Today’s
article is addressed to those who have abandoned their Christian life after
succumbing to temptation, for they believed themselves unworthy of Jesus’
presence and, as a result, have turned away from Him.
Indeed, we come to share this message with
those who have chosen to believe in the judgment of men rather than turn to
Jesus, who Himself asks us to forgive our neighbors seventy-seven times seven
times (Matthew 18:21-22). If we, who are imperfect, are asked to do this, we
cannot even imagine how many times Jesus has forgiven us, is forgiving us, and
will continue to forgive us.
Doesn't the Bible tell us that the Lord's
steadfast love is new every morning? This love is not reserved only for the
righteous (or those who think they are righteous), but for all of us, without
distinction (Matthew 5:45). However, only those who believe in God’s boundless
goodness can fully benefit from it. Those who believe know that when they
confess their sins and repent with sincerity, God forgives, erases, and forgets
(Acts 3:19: " Repent, then, and turn to
God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from
the Lord "). Those who fully experience the Lord’s goodness
believe in it wholeheartedly, like David. They know that God does not show His
goodness as a reward for good deeds, but because it is His nature. He is good
and loving. Thus, we do not serve a vengeful God who is always ready to punish
and condemn His children who believe in Him. Rather, we serve and love a
patient God who is always ready to start anew with us.
However, we have been taught certain false
teachings that paint God as a punisher who rejects sinners. These teachings
lead us to believe that the gravity of our sins deprives us of forgiveness and
makes us unworthy of God’s presence. As a result, we are deprived of the Holy
Spirit, even though we never received Him through our good deeds. Thus, many
who believe these false teachings sink deeper into sin and drift further away
from God. Believing they are unworthy of God’s forgiveness and of being in his
presence, they no longer pray or meditate and consequently are no longer in
communion with the Holy Spirit. But isn’t it the Holy Spirit who convicts us of
sin? By voluntarily depriving themselves of the One who awakens the conscience,
they become increasingly mired in sin. We
therefore remind our brothers and sisters in such situations that Jesus died
for sinners. His blood was shed solely to cleanse us from our sins, not to
reward our good works. Jesus did not come to reward the righteous but to save
sinners. Ignore the voices that condemn you and trust Jesus's voice calling you
back to him.
However,
we must understand that this is not an invitation to remain in sin. Rather, it
is an invitation to draw closer to God, strengthen our relationship with Him,
and love and worship Him with all our hearts. The true worshiper desires to be
like the object of his or her worship. Being like Jesus means loving the Father
with all our strength and all our heart. This love drives us to please Him by
following His commandments and living far from sin. (John 14: 21 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is
the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
too will love them and show myself to them.”)
