A recent convert to Christianity commented that he did not deserve to be forgiven. It was an interesting comment and many recent converts wonder about this.
New converts to Christianity have to remember that they did nothing to receive the grace. God wanted to save them out of his love for them. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For grace ye are saved, through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is a gift from God.
God’s love is so encompassing and so embracing that as new converts, we may have difficulty accepting this love because of the weight of our sin. The best thing to do is just to accept it and let God love us. I John 4:7-21 describes God’s love for mankind. In particular, I John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins.”
I remember when I was newly converted to Christianity and I asked God to show me that he loved me. I waited patiently for him to answer me. A few weeks later I was invited to a prayer group which was being held in someone’s basement. To my amazement, I felt an intense love of God when I walked into the room and met the other members. What a feeling that was!
God sacrificed his own son, Jesus Christ, and let him be crucified and die on the cross so that we could be saved from our sins. On that cross, Jesus bore the weight of all of our sins. This is confirmed in 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV), “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” In the process, we become healed emotionally and physically.
Salvations is such a wonderful gift and we are blessed to have been given the opportunity to be saved and to follow Jesus. We should not condemn ourselves because God does not condemn us. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Condemnation is not of God, but is of the devil who seeks to recapture our souls back to him. But if we are firm in the word of God, we will recognize those times that we are being tempted. For God desires that souls be saved and go to heaven and the devil desires that souls continue to lead a life of destruction and go to hell. God promises eternal life when we are saved, (John 3:16) and those who are not, suffer everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
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