FORGIVENESS: 3 What Must I Believe About God to be Forgiven Forever?

Chapter 1.3

What Must I Believe about God

to be Forgiven Forever?

John 3:16, 18

Week 2

► After reading this chapter, answer the following questions:

1. Why do people make too little of God’s love? Does this describe you?
2. Why do people make too little of God’s hatred for sin? Does this describe you?
3. How does the death of God the Son reconcile God the Father’s justice and mercy?
4. What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a Professor of Philosophy and English Literature for almost 40 years, serving at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. At age 17 he wrote: “I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them” and He was “angry with God for not existing.” But God continued to reveal Himself to Lewis. At the age of 31 he wrote:

You must picture me alone in that room at Oxford, night after night, feeling the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed. That night I was perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England. ^[1]

Not only did C. S. Lewis convert from atheism to Christianity, but he became perhaps the most respected Christian writer of the 20^th century. Among his works was the popular Chronicles of Narnia series selling over 100 million copies and resulting in three major motion pictures. This very smart man would tell you that what Jesus claimed is true:

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. . . But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

(John 3:16, 18)

John 3:16 is the most famous statement Jesus ever made. ^[2] In it He briefly explained the central message of Christianity. But His full statement also included a critical warning. In this chapter you will learn:

God the Father is holy and will punish all sin. But He is also loving and willing to forgive sin.

A) God the Father is holy and loving

Perhaps you are one of those people who doubts God’s love. You are overwhelmed with how much you have broken God’s laws and struggle to believe God could forgive you. John 3:16 is good news for you! Jesus said: “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

If you doubt God can forgive you, the Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest Christian to ever live, wrote the following to encourage you:

I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. . . . Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”- and I am the worst of them all.

But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Tim 1:13-16)

God’s love is great enough to completely forgive “even the worst sinners.” Therefore, God’s love is certainly great enough to forgive you. ^[3] Do not make the mistake of thinking too little of God’s love.

But perhaps you are like many people who think too little about God’s holiness. To be holy means to hate sin and separate yourself from it. Sin is breaking God’s laws. Because God the Father is holy He hates sin and separates Himself from sinners. The Bible says of God, “You are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil” (Hab 1:13). Therefore, people who think too little about God’s holiness think too little about their sin and God’s desire to punish it. In fact, they think too little about God.

One of the worst mistakes humans make is to presume that God the Father already loves them and therefore will forgive them. Maybe they know Christ’s most famous statement above that God the Father loves the world. Unfortunately, this has given many a false sense of security in their relationship with Him. Especially those who think too little of their sin and God the Father’s holiness. They think, “If God loves me then certainly He will forgive me.”

Unfortunately many people do not read what Jesus said just two verses after saying God loves the world in John 3:16. In verse 18 He said: “But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” Also a few verses later He said: “Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment” (John 3:36). Those who have not trusted in who Jesus Christ is, have already been condemned to punishment and are even now an object of his anger. Do not make the mistake of thinking too little of God’s holiness and hatred for your sin.

How can both John 3:16 and John 3:18 be true? If God the Father loved the world enough to send His Son to die, why does “God’s angry judgment” currently remain toward some people? Because as the primary point of this chapter states: God the Father is holy and will punish all sin. But He is also loving and willing to forgive sin. And believing both of these things about God the Father is necessary to be forgiven by Him.

Jesus Christ said, “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. . . But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18).

B) God the Father will punish all sin

What do you think is the biggest problem in your life? What do you need to fear the most? Losing your job? Losing a friendship? Getting sick? Dying? If you do not trust and follow Jesus, then your greatest problem is none of these. Your biggest problem is God. The thing you need to fear the most is being punished by God. Jesus said:

Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt 10:28)

If you do not have a right relationship with God you should “be afraid of” Him because He will “destroy both [your] soul and body in hell.” Hell is the place of eternal punishment for those who do not trust and follow Jesus Christ. The Bible says of Jesus Christ:

He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. (2 Thess 1:7-9)

“The Good News of our Lord Jesus” is that you can be completely forgiven forever through Jesus Christ. But if you “refuse to obey the Good News,” you “will be punished with eternal destruction.”

Because Hell is a real place, Jesus talked about it more often than Heaven including:

[This] is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 13:49-50)

The Bible talks a lot about God being angry with people who break His laws. The Psalms say of God, “You hate all who do evil” and “He hates those who love violence” (Psalms 5:5; 11:5). The Prophet Isaiah wrote: “The LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice” (Isa 5:16 DEV).

The Father’s “justice” will result in the punishment of people who break His laws. What kind of God would just let people disobey Him without penalty? That would be a weak god. The real God is not weak. God’s anger against sinners will be very clear at the end of the world:

The day of the Lord is coming—the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. . .

“I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty . . . when the Lord of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isa 13:9, 11, 13)

But God the Father’s anger will not only be revealed and experienced at the end of a person’s life. He is angry with sinners now. As you have already read: “Anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son . . . Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment [now]” (John 3:18, 36).

God the Father will punish sinners when they die, but He is also punishing them now. This is why so many people experience bad, hurtful things in their lives and feel so empty and without hope. What would we expect when they do not have a relationship with their Creator and He is angry with them because they constantly break His laws? Unfortunately, most people belittle the glory, holiness, and justice of God the Father and how much He hates disobedience. But He is God after all!

Jesus said, “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. . . But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18). God the Father is holy and will punish all sin. But He is also loving and willing to forgive sin.

C) God the Father is willing to forgive sin

God the Father is holy. He hates your sin and will punish all of it. But thankfully He is also willing to provide a way to forgive your sin. That is why Jesus said, “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) and be forgiven forever.

This is important for those who think too much of their sin and too little of the mercy of the Father. God the Father demonstrated His desire to rescue people from the punishment of their sin when “He gave up his one and only Son” to die for those sins.

No matter how great your sin, God the Father’s plan for your forgiveness will work if you will submit to it. God is the only One with the authority to eternally punish or forgive sin. And He has promised that Christ’s death will pay the full penalty of your sin if you will trust and obey His Son.

Unfortunately, the good news about forgiveness forever through Jesus Christ (the Gospel) will mean little to you if you deny you deserve God’s punishment and need His forgiveness. Again, most people presume that God the Father loves everyone the same way and that all are His children. But this is not so. It is true, as Jesus said of God the Father: “He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike” (Matt 5:45). The Father is kind and good to all humans just by giving them life and providing for them.

But the Father does not accept or forgive everyone. Only His children. And contrary to what many believe, most humans are not God’s children. The Bible says of Jesus Christ:

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. . . . But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:10, 12)

You do not possess the acceptance, protection, and privileges of being a son or daughter of God the Father just by being born into this world. Only those who have “believed . . . and accepted” Jesus Christ as their only Savior and King are given “the right to become children of God.” God is the Creator of all people but not the Father of all people. Many people do not even want God to be their father. They reject God’s Son instead of trust and accept Him. Therefore God rejects them.

The Father is going to punish every single one of your sins. He can do this by the punishment He gave His Son when He died hanging on a cross. Or He will punish your sins by sending you into the fire of Hell. But if you are one of those who will accept Christ’s sacrifice for your sins, then God can be both just and loving toward you. Just, because your sins were punished. Loving, because His Son suffered the punishment for you. The death of God the Son demonstrates that God the Father is holy and will punish all sin. But He is also loving and willing to forgive sin.

God the Father is holding out a peace offering to you in His Son. If you accept it, the Father will accept you. If you reject Christ, the Father will reject you. As Jesus Christ said: “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. . . But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18). God the Father is holy and will punish all sin. But He is also loving and willing to forgive sin.

► Return to the beginning of this chapter and answer the questions there.

1. C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (Harvest, 1966), 115, 228-229. ↑

2. ↑

3. Some will object that Jesus spoke of an “unforgiveable sin” (Matt 12:32). But this described people whose hearts were so hard that when they saw Jesus heal a man they claimed He did it with the Devil’s power. For more on this see the section on Your Father’s Acceptance in Christian Essentials study #3, FAITH. ↑