In a very polite letter, one known person noted, among other things: “Although I respect Jesus as Savior, it never occurs to me that obedient, virtuous, self-deprecating Catholics will be in heaven in a society of greedy, thieves, murderers, pedophiles, criminals, rapists and the like who changed their minds at the last minute.” So his dilemma was, why does God forgive all sins?

So, Why Does God Forgive All Sins?

The question is reasonable. Jesus answers him, especially in the parable of the lost and found son (Luke 15: 11-32). When the young prodigal finds himself in misery, repents, and returns to his father, the older son cannot accept that his father forgives him all. “When this son of yours comes and devours your property with prostitutes, you slaughter fattened calf for him.” The father explains, “Son, you are always with me, and all mine are yours. But we should have rejoiced because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, lost and found ”.

The Sinner Has to Die to Be Born Again

This is the core of Jesus ’attitude and God’s forgiveness. The sinner does not “change his mind” to lead God to mercy but changes fundamentally – he dies to be born again. The born-again man is the joy of God. Jesus expects everyone to understand that. God is not up to justice but salvation; he does not want to judge but to accept anew a man who is thus born again. This is – Christians believe – possible because Jesus died and rose. In his death, human sins die – in his resurrection, man is born again. God does not accept those who reject it; he leaves them free from their evil, but it is not up to him to condemn but to man’s rebirth. He knows who is ashamed of his sin and who wants to get rid of it. Here human calculation does not help. Human justice justifiably judges the criminals in this world, but God can take from the execution site and from the stake the one he recognizes as a born-again being.

Such a Man Is a New Creature

This approach is not God’s weakness but the power of his redemption, precisely Jesus ’death and resurrection. This does not encourage man to sin so that in the end, he will be saved, but constantly warns him that sin can be freed and revived as a new creature. No calculation of righteousness helps here – one should rejoice that God is permanently ready to forgive, to give birth to the repentant again. Such a reborn man is not a hypocrite. Such a man is a new creature.