When we ask this question, we are hurting inside. We might be showing it on the outside, or hiding behind humor or anger. At the end of the day, we are hurting and have wounded hearts. We feel guilty for what we have done or have convinced ourselves that this time we have crossed the line. We might even think that forgiveness is for others, but certainly not for us because we don’t deserve it. Can God forgive me…really? Can God forgive us?
You might have noticed that I used “we” a whole bunch there. It’s because at the end of the day, none of us deserves forgiveness. We are all sinful and all fall short of having a relationship with God. After all, if we deserved forgiveness, then it really wouldn’t be forgiveness. I’m going to make a pretty bold statement here so please take note – whatever you have done, you can rest assured that it does not disqualify you of God’s forgiveness.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
Think of it this way, we have all sinned. No one is exempt from this and every single one of us are sinners. There’s only one group of people who can be forgiven from God: the group of sinners. We must first recognize we are a sinner as a requirement for forgiveness. You can quickly look around the world and look within your relationships and realize that something is wrong, something is broken.
A lot of us actually think that our sins are so shocking that God surely wouldn’t be able to forgive us. You can read multiple areas in Scripture that will reveal sinful people who God loved and forgave. In Psalm, we read about David who killed a man in order to steal his wife. How many of us have done that? What he writes in Scripture is fascinating in terms of seeing God’s love for him even after his sin:
“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:10-12
Another example is Paul, who hunted down Christians to bring them to trial or death. After He became a follower of Christ, he wrote the following:
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” – 1 Timothy 1:15
Jesus forgave David and Paul. Jesus rescued the thief on the Cross. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him. If these people can receive forgiveness, we can too.
When Paul says he is the foremost sinner in his life, I can very much relate to this personally. I am the biggest sinner I know, period. The fact that I’ve been a sinner my whole life, continue to sin today, and will keep on sinning and falling short of God is incredibly frustrating at times. It hurts. It’s painful. It’s wrong.
However, something changed for me and can change for you. I believed and chose to become a follower of Jesus Christ. I realized that Jesus died for my…personal…sins. He wasn’t just a popular person I’ve heard of before or just a God type figure. He became my Savior. He rescued me.
Here’s the deal, we are all sinners. Jesus, the Son of God, came here and lived and dwelt among us. He was perfect and never sinned being fully man and fully God at the same time. No, I don’t have all this figured out, but again I am not God so I don’t think I ever will. He lived, then died on the Cross (paying the price for all of our past, present, and future sins), rose again defeating death and sin in Victory, then ascended into Heaven and is with God at this very moment. The Bible is clear on everything I just said and speaks to the fact that Jesus will return, soon.
However you have sinned, you can be forgiven because of what Christ has done. There is no sin that is too big for Him. If that was possible, then what would be the point of Jesus dying on the Cross? It’s not possible. You can be forgiven for all of eternity if you put your faith and trust in Jesus. Yes, God can really forgive you.
The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Our sins can’t be bigger than God’s faithfulness.
Here are other Frequently Asked Questions and how the Bible answers them.
I’m having trouble right now even asking for forgiveness. It is hard to believe that when I willingly and knowingly sinned against Him, that I can ask for forgiveness. I can confess my sins but I’m not willing to ask for forgiveness because I really don’t believe I deserve it. How do I turn this around? It is painful to know that I want a deep, close relationship with Jesus Christ, and yet I chose to turn away from him. I’m struggling to find out where to begin again.
Hey Erin, thanks for sharing. I’d like to encourage you in a couple of things. 1. The simple fact that you are admitting how you are having trouble to ask for forgiveness and that you care at all about sinning, says a lot about you and the work God is already doing in your life. Others who sin with no regard…actually have no regard and feel nothing about it. You on the other hand, seem to already be repenting and sorry for that and wanting to take that before The Lord. Let THAT be proof that God is working on… Read more »
This helps more than you know. Thank you so much!
Awesome Erin! Glad to hear it!!
Thank you Sometimes I beat myself up as I fall short of thing’s and He is the one to Trust. Thank you brother!
Anytime man, thanks for sharing! I often do the same thing to myself but just need to be reminded of Christ’s love for me and that He was beaten for me….so I don’t have to beat myself up.
Im so blessed for your words.
Sometimes I feel like I am not deserve to get His forgiveness.
I know He is faithful. But how can we do not do our sin anymore?
I need Him more and more. I just think that I do my sins over and over.
Thanks for sharing Winda. I think at the end of the day, we all honestly don’t deserve God’s forgiveness through Jesus…but He gives us His forgiveness anyway! That’s grace and that’s the beauty of the Gospel! I think if we remind ourselves daily of the Gospel and what Jesus did for us..that’s a start on how we can best follow Him and avoid sin. We need to read His Word (The Bible) every day, pray to God every day, and continue to seek Him out in everything we do and in every decision we make. The more we follow Jesus… Read more »
“none of us deserves forgiveness”. I have heard this statement many times and it bothers me.
If God sent Jesus to die on the cross, then He must have thought we deserved forgiveness. Otherwise, why bother. Each time we sin and we do sin, we deserve forgiveness because Jesus died on the cross. We didn’t earn our forgiveness in any way, but because Jesus took our place, we deserve forgiveness.
Thanks for the comment Chris. I think it may be a matter of how we are defining deserve in this case. The only reason we are forgiven at all for any sin is because of what Jesus did for us. I am not too sure that we still deserve it. If we received what we deserve…it would be eternity separated from God because we are still sinful. That’s the beauty of grace. Grace is only grace when it is undeserved, meaning we are totally undeserving of any of this. I would still say that we don’t deserve anything. God doesn’t… Read more »
Good points in response to Chris, Mike. I would respectfully add that God forgives us because He is **pleased** to do so, and not because we “deserve” it – as you stated in your article. The **manner** in how this is accomplished, namely Christ suffering the wrath of God for the sins of His people on the cross, is not to be confused with the **motive** — those whom God, by His perfect decree, set His love upon before the foundations of the world and for no other reason is “why” He forgives His people. When we understand that propositional… Read more »
Thanks Barry, appreciate the encouragement and truth you have shared!