FAITH CAPSULE: God is consistent with restoration when there is genuine repentance.

2 Samuel 11, 12

God is a good God. There is no sin that is terrible enough to keep man away from God where there is genuine repentance before Him. Psalm 86:5 testifies, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” Are you asking for forgiveness from man or God? God alone is waiting and ready to forgive us. It does not matter how unimaginable you consider you sin to be, God is ready to forgive. Give no room to excuse, turn to God and ask for forgiveness. Regardless of whom you are or what title you answer to in the church, a failure to go before God and ask for forgiveness is a passage to eternal termination. Adam attempted to excuse his sin before God after him and Eve ate from the forbidden tree. God asked Adam why he ate against His command and the best excuse was, “…the woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) Adam gave a true excuse before God. However, there is no excuse that is true enough for sin to reign over one’s life.
David sinned against God by taking Uriah’s wife after she had conceived and for engineering the death of Uriah. God sent Nathan to David to unfold the gravity of his sin. David did not debate or excuse his sin, he repented immediately. 2 Samuel 12:13 states, “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’” God in His goodness and mercy does not overlook sin but will always put away sin before Him to allow for the continuation of a relationship with His children who repent. Repentance does not eliminate the consequences, but it restores relationships back to their proper place with God. David, by virtue of his knowing God, committed an unimaginable sin before God, and he received an inexcusable consequence of his sin before God. He gave a great occasion to the enemy. It is written, “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely died.” (2 Samuel 12:14) As destructive as sin is, God is consistent with restoration when there is repentance. Is there any way that your deed is giving occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme? Have you considered going before God for genuine repentance? A born again Christian lacking integrity needs to understand his error either by self-evaluation or by a “Nathan” before it builds up to an untimely death.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s mercy upon you according to His loving-kindness; according to the multitude of His mercy.