Who is a God like you?
You forgive sin
and overlook the rebellion of your faithful people.
You will not be angry forever,
because you would rather show mercy.
You will again have compassion on us.
You will overcome our wrongdoing.
You will throw all our sins into the deep sea.
Micah 7:18–19
Are you absolutely convinced that God can do anything he says he will do? If you are, then you have faith. If not, then you do not have faith; you have doubt. If you want to be forgiven for the junk you’ve done, then you have to believe in God’s forgiveness. You have to believe that no matter what you did, it’s done, over, finished and that you’re forgiven—not because of how you fixed it or what you did but because you believe him.
God promises to make you cleaned up, spotless, righteous, if you’ll just believe that he can do that. When you worry about your past sins, think about them all the time, and say stuff like, “I just can’t get over it,” you don’t believe; you doubt. Did you know that only believers get forgiveness, not doubters? It’s so simple that a lot of people miss it. Just believe in his forgiveness and you’ve got it. Don’t believe and you’ve missed it. How simple, yet how difficult!
So here’s how it’s done: when you mess up, agree with God that you sinned. Tell him point blank that you sinned against him, not anybody else. Then thank him for his forgiveness and promise you’ll never do it again. If you can do that, then you’ve got it. Plain and simple.
See, forgiveness is grounded in faith, not works. It’s not about you but about him. All you have to do is have the guts to believe. Can you believe?