However, will one
will be forgiven by simply asking forgiveness from God? Are there
conditions set by God for the sinner to be truly forgiven?
Return To God Wholeheartedly
44E.1
What other condition did God lay down for sinners to obtain forgiveness of
their sins? How does God want His people to return to Him?
The answer is
explicitly recorded in Joel 2:12:
"Yet even
now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting,
with weeping, and with mourning; (RSV)
God requires
His people to return to Him with all their hearts and with all contriteness
(feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming)
The Bible is replete with accounts of God fearing people who sincerely and
wholeheartedly grieved for the sins they had committed.
Forsake The Wicked Ways
44E.2
But it is enough to weep or grieve exceedingly for any misconduct or errant
behavior he has committed before God? What does God expect from the
sinner?
In Isaiah 55:7,
God instructs:
Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He
will abundantly pardon. (NKJV)
Although God is loving and merciful. He does not consent in man
wallowing in sin.
What does God He require from the sinner?
He wants the sinner to forsake his wicked ways, and abandon his unrighteous
thoughts. Can we deceived God with a sorrowful countenance or bearing?
It is not therefore a matter of sporting a
sorrowful face, simulating remorse, but sincerity in obeying God's
admonition that one ought to fully discard all his inequities an abominable
deeds.
Keep God's Statutes
44E.3
What else does God require from man to surely gain His grace?
Another prophet
of old made known the provisions for man to live and not to die as stated in
Ezekiel 18:21:
"But
if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My
statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall
not die. (NKJV)
Man's
obligation does not stop at his doing away with all forms and semblance of
wickedness.
What else does God
require from man?
God also commands
him to keep His statutes --- to do what is lawful and right.
Humility
In Spirit
44E.4
What
important trait does God expect from those who return to Him?
In Psalms 34:18,
this is written:
The Lord is near to them that are
broken hearted, and he saves those who are humble in spirit. (Lamsa)
The same verse in the Living Bible:
The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins.
(LVB)
Humility as manifested by complete
submission and obedience to God is the way that would lead man (the
sinner) to forgiveness and God's pleasure.
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Man must comply
with what God wants Him to do. Otherwise, he will be liable of going
against God's laws. He may have very well discarded his vices and
heinous deeds but if he fails to do what is lawful and right before God, he
would still fall short of the life promised by God.
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