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Repentance and Forgiveness

Luke 15:17-24, NIV
??7 When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.혻21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.?씲?2 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.??

Our journey toward eternal life and the kingdom begins with our encounter with Jesus. We are elevated to the position of God?셲 children and royal priesthood. To maintain this position, we must live a life that is pleasing to the Lord by always staying spiritually alert. One important way of doing so is by repentance.


1. The scene of true repentance (Lk 15:17).
The prodigal son asked his father for the portion of his inheritance (Lk 15:12) and departed from his father to live a prodigal life (Lk 15:13). He squandered all of his money and fell into a miserable state. Then he repented and went back to his father (Lk 15:17). Adam and Eve disobeyed God?셲 command, ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, fell because of sin, and departed from God. What followed as a result of their disobedience were spiritual death, environmental curses, physical disease, and death. We still sin, even after we have committed our lives to Jesus, because our old self continues to tempt us to sin despite our will to live righteously (Ro 7:18-20). That is why we should continue to fight off our sinful nature. We should move forward in the presence of God through daily repentance and fill ourselves with His Word and His Spirit. Then our lives will be victorious.


2. The love and forgiveness of the father (Lk 15:20).
The father of the prodigal son waited every day for his son to come back home. When he found his son on the way back home, he ran mercifully toward his son and hugged and kissed him. This is the love of God. The moment the father saw his son, he showed mercy on his son. The father forgave his son unconditionally for all he had done, and held a feast for him. Jesus had mercy on Bartimaeus and healed him. Jesus had mercy on a widow in a town called Nain and brought her dead son to life again. Therefore, do not seek mercy from any man. Seek mercy from Jesus, and miracles will happen in your life. Come before the God of love through repentance, and God will hug you with His love and forgive you.


3. A life that has no forgiveness (Lk 15:26-27).
An older son who was working in the field heard that his father had killed the fattened calf for his brother and was reluctant to enter the house (Lk 15:28). He thought his father was partial and unjust (Lk 15:29-30). He did not forgive his brother, and he misunderstood his father for not having given him even a young goat. The older brother himself was a prodigal son because he had a negative view of his good father. God is a god of love who allowed His own Son to die on the Cross for our sake. We must know God well and should have His portrait correctly drawn in our mind. We should not restrict the love of our Father as the older son did. We should not stand in a front line criticizing others for their faults, like the scribes and Pharisees who held a stone to throw at a woman caught in adultery. We must first look at ourselves (Jn 8:7) and lay down the stones of hatred before Jesus who has forgiven us. The river of grace and healing overflows where there is forgiveness.


A life of forgiveness enables us to fight against sin and live victoriously. I hope you remember that you are indebted to Jesus for His love, and I pray to God that you will forgive yourselves and your neighbors and practice love toward them.