Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah was preaching in Judah, in the days of Josiah, but in this case, the message uses Israel, the backslidden northern kingdom of Jews as the target. God says,
Jeremiah 3:1 (KJV)
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
God, contrary to the accusations leveled against Him by those who do not know Him and do not believe He is, is more gracious, more forgiving than the average person is. He is willing to forgive and take back those that almost no person would — the one who has immorally betrayed him.
I, in fact, believe that many of those who hate God the most stand as they do because they do not believe God would take them back if they wanted Him to. They sure wouldn't if they were God. But they are not God. His character is higher than theirs. He invites them to return.
Just one condition.
Jeremiah 3:13 (KJV)
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
There it is. One must acknowledge he has transgressed against the Lord to return to Him. That's repentance. It's not quitting all your sin so God will forgive you. It is acknowledging that sin and turning back to God. No matter how terribly a person has sinned, even those sins we would never forgive ourselves for, if he turns back to God, God receives him and accepts him. It is not that God unjustly ignores the sin. It is that God has already provided a just payment for the sin in the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.
#DivineForgiveness #ReturnToGod #RepentanceandRestoration #GodsGraciousLove #AcknowledgeIniquity
Restored and Renewed: The Path Back to God
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