Society doesnt talk much about sin these days. When it does, it is usually in terms of a sickness not a sin. Yet one of the most amazing experiences anyone can go through is to come to the realisation that they have sinned and are not worthy.
Then, like the proverbial knight in shining armour coming to their rescue, they find out that there is a loving God who has prepared a way of rescue. We realise that although sin leads to death and all have sinned and deserve death, there is Jesus, who knew no sin and only deserved honour, but was willing to pay the price in our stead. This really is the good news of Christianity.
Truly dreadful evils
Now sooner or later, maybe at some braai with friends, or even in a group Bible study the question will be raised as to whether there is a sin (or sinner) God cannot forgive? Think about it, there have been some truly dreadful evils committed throughout history. We might debate whether someone can go through his entire life torturing and murdering people and then on his death-bed give his heart to the Lord and be saved. Obviously we understand there is a major difference between true repentance and just being sorry because we were caught. We also understand that sin is basically us turning away from God and rejecting Him. Sin is a deadly disease that sometimes kills swiftly and at other times kills slowly and painfully like a cancer.
There is an interesting story in the Old Testament which goes a long way in shedding some light on the subject. It is found in 2 Kings 21 and 2 Chronicles 33. It tells the story of Manasseh, who began to reign as king in Jerusalem when he was 12 years old. He reigned for 55 years and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. There is not much detail in the story, but Manasseh totally rejected God and was a ruthless, murdering tyrant who obviously suppressed his people. Not only did he sacrifice his own children to pagan gods by burning them, he murdered so many of his own subjects that the blood flowed in the streets from one end of the city to the other. God eventually punished Manasseh. The Assyrians raided the land and took him and probably many others into captivity as slaves. Manasseh then really started to suffer.
We might be inclined to think, good because he deserved it. But the story does not end there. It goes on to say that, in his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged Him for help. (2 Chronicles.33:12. GNB). And would you believe it? God hears Manassehs prayer, forgives him and restores him as king of Judah. In short, God forgives Manasseh all his sins.
We need to believe the Bible when it says, If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:9. NKJV). We often have the idea that sin falls into various categories of seriousness. There are the really bad ones like murder and child abuse and then there are the not so bad ones like occasionally lying or stealing only little things. But in Gods eyes there is no difference, because even the smallest sin still caused the death of his beloved Son. Sin separated us from God and a great loving God was literally willing to die to bring us back together again.
To me, the most beautiful part of the whole story of Manasseh is where it says, Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God (2 Chron.33:13). Manasseh truly repented of his wrong ways. Yet, he possibly also felt that he had done such terrible things during his life that not even God could forgive him.
But he genuinely repented of his sins and for the first time in his life he truly saw the depth of Gods love and forgiveness. It really is a beautiful thing to experience.
Can we forgive ourselves?
I once watched an interview on TV which was conducted with four convicted child abusers. Some were still in prison and some had been released. It was not pleasant to even watch and listen to as these men told their stories. They all sat there and spoke with little expression on their faces. All of them said that they were sorry for the lives they had ruined and a person could sense this included their own. At some time or other all of these men had directly or indirectly apologized to their victims. The interviewer then asked what had been the most difficult part of confronting their victims again after many years? One mans reaction and answer struck me the most of the entire interview. He said that he was very sorry for what he had done and that he could not forgive himself. But then his victim had confronted him and said that she had forgiven him for the years of abuse. Right there, in the interview, this man started to cry and said that to him the hardest thing was to truly accept that forgiveness. You could see the genuine pain and anguish. He basically went on further to say that he could not accept, or understand, the fact that she had forgiven him for the horrible things he had done to her.
Enslaved by guilt
The sad part is that he had become the victim. Although he was out of prison, he wasnt free. He was enslaved by guilt, while his forgiver had freed herself from those burdens and was now able to move forward with a new life of freedom. Sin and guilt are a powerful pair of shackles, but they are not more powerful than the love and forgiveness of God, which can truly set us free. To fully understand this whole issue is beyond the reasoning and understanding of the normal human mind.
I am trying to tread very sensitively on a subject that is a cold lake covered with a thin layer of ice. I am not trying to excuse sin or make light of the consequences and lifelong scars that it leaves in its destructive path. The Bible is clear that because Jesus forgave our sins, this does not give us the licence to carry on sinning. Romans chapter 6 makes this clear. What I am saying is that there is no sin that we have committed that God cannot or will not forgive. The problem comes when we will not allow God to take those sins away from us and drown them in the deepest ocean. Too often we take our fishing rod of guilt and go fishing in that ocean hoping to bring the memory of that old sin to the surface again. God forgives and forgets our sins, but the devil likes to remind us of them again and again, and fill us with guilt.
Jesus words in Matthew 11:28 are so telling of our human nature when he says, Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Three important things stand out in these words of Jesus. First, he knows that we tend to carry our old sins and guilt around with us. Secondly, he desperately wants to take those heavy burdens from us and give us rest. And thirdly, it is only Jesus who in the end can give us true rest from the burden of sin and guilt.
The real problem is not that there is a sin (or sinner) God cannot forgive. It is that we hold onto the guilt of certain things we have done and do not accept Gods forgiveness. Or we dont truly believe God will forgive them. There is no sin too dark (or sinner too evil) that God cannot forgive.
Fully accepting Gods forgiveness and Jesus love sets us free and allows us to meet our full potential and service in Christ. You see, the only sin God cannot forgive is the one we hang on to and refuse to allow Him to forgive.
But remember God gave everything he had for us. He held nothing back. He could not have given any more.