When faced with the reality of our sin, we become overwhelmed with how depraved we really are. The more we see God’s holiness, the greater we feel the weight of our own wickedness. There are some, whether saved or on the brink of salvation, who feel that their sin is just too much for God to forgive. To that, we must ask one question: Are you worse than a man who jailed and executed Christians?
Saul, the enemy of Christ
After Christ’s resurrection, Christianity began to spread. Most of the Jewish leaders were furious at this, considering it unthinkable that Jews were joining together with Gentiles (non-Jews). Christ, the very man they executed for blasphemy, had upended the world after His death more than He had while alive.
One such leader was named Saul, whose primary motive was to stamp out Christianity wherever he found it.
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2)
We don’t have specifics, but it’s implied that he was given permission to order the arrest and execution of anyone following the way of Christ. The blood of men and women was on his hands. Children had become orphans because their parents could do nothing but love and follow their savior. Fear gripped the early church, with Saul destroying as many lives as he could.
Yet as he traveled to Damascus to do what he did best, the resurrected Christ intervened. Jesus Christ revealed the truth of who He was to the very man whose life was centered around hating Him. In an instant, Saul was converted. In beholding Christ, he became the very thing he was trying to kill.
In time, this zealous Jew began preaching Christ to non-Jews. Today we know him as Paul after he started using the Roman version of his name among gentiles. He dedicated his life to learning more about Christ, using his deep knowledge of the Old Testament to see that God had been pointing to Christ all along.
Then, God did something amazing. Not only was Paul a new creature, but he soon became one of the most important people of that time. Paul, once a butcher of Christians, became responsible for writing over half of the New Testament that we use today.
Paul, the chief of sinners
When the Holy Spirit reveals how a holy God views our sin, even if we only understand a fraction of that reality, it crushes us. How could someone so immense in their righteousness and purity ever look at us with anything but wrath? What could we possibly deserve except an eternity apart from His holy presence?
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)
That’s what makes the story of Paul so incredible. Christ’s payment for our sins was so complete that God could forgive a man who not only persecuted Christians but did so at a time when Christianity itself could have been stamped out before it spread across the globe. Paul was one of Christ’s greatest enemies, yet Christ’s glorious power transformed him into one of the greatest instruments in spreading the very gospel Paul once hated.
The limits of God’s forgiveness
Perhaps someone knows they can be forgiven, but they insist they must do something to earn it. The idea that God can forgive someone may not seem impossible, but it surely can’t be easy. It make more sense to many of us that God must require us to do some kind of good work to earn forgiveness for so much evil.
he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5)
But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
The most difficult part about the gospel is that it’s not all that difficult. We live in a world where nothing is truly free, and anything good requires work on our part to earn it. One of the most difficult things for us to understand is that, no matter how many of our sins need to be forgiven, we all contribute the same amount of work to earn salvation – absolutely none. No matter how wicked we realize we are, we cannot outdo the power of Christ’s death on the cross.
But the effectiveness of Christ’s death and resurrection doesn’t just extend to salvation, but throughout our entire lives. Christ didn’t just cover our sins long enough for us to gain a ticket to Heaven. His death was effective for our entire existence, paying for every sin we commit until we breathe our last.
for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. (Romans 8:13)
Of course, we don’t sin just because we can. After all, we hate sin because we love God, not because we fear His wrath or want to barter for His favor. God still loves us and disciplines us as a good father does.
Yet when we do sin, and we will, we need only humble ourselves before God. Though the penalty of our sin was paid for by Christ, it still causes a rift in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We confess our sin, and through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we continue killing the sin that killed our savior. There is no work on our part because our forgiveness is based purely on Christ’s death and God’s goodness.
God’s unlimited mercy
God is so good. He could have left us in our sin, enjoying our walk through darkness until we reached the eternal punishment we deserved. He could have allowed His enemies to face the consequences of the debt we gleefully heaped upon ourselves.
Yet here each Christian stands, purchased by the blood of Christ and able to be looked upon by God as though we haven’t spent decades in a selfish pursuit of our own pleasures. We could have never done enough to earn God’s forgiveness, nor can we do enough to lose it. Yet day by day, the Holy Spirit continues changing us, drawing us closer to our savior as we drift further from our love of sin.
And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,” then he says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” (Hebrews 10:15-17)
God can forgive anyone. Thieves can be forgiven. Addicts can be forgiven. Parents who aborted a child can be forgiven. Even someone who spent years imprisoning and killing Christians can be forgiven. No matter our sin, it can be forgiven because Christ’s sacrifice on the cross could never accomplish less than absolute forgiveness for those who repent of their sins and trust Him for salvation.
