Too Sullied To Be Saved?

From the depths of despair, O LORD, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. I am counting on the LORD; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. –Psalms 130:1-5

There are people who believe that they have done far too many terrible things in life for God to forgive and save them.

Out of extreme shame, guilt and sorrow over their mistakes these people conclude God would never sympathize or accept them.

The taunting and haunting residue from past or present deeds, inspire them to feel doomed. They imagine the worse possible outcome and are left to feel unworthy to come to God as they expect nothing but his severe wrath and punishment.

Many of these people beat themselves up over and over again struck by memory after memory then tortured by fear and a sense of being lost with no kind of hope.

However, God/Jesus wants to erase those bad reflections. He wants to stop that self-abuse. He wants to heal that pain. He wants to exchange wrath and punishment for grace and mercy. He wants to offer a wonderful end result. He wants to replace mental anguish with peace. He wants to pour out his love. He wants to recruit into his family. He wants to cleanse and purify to make a new. He wants to eradicate false belief- so that true belief is in him.

There is no greater example than of the story of Saul/Paul in the bible. He was “a chief of sin” yet overcame by the favor and power of the Lord.

In Paul’s wicked days he persecuted and murdered Christians but God had an incredible conversion ahead for this man who became one of the most beloved disciples of Jesus Christ. 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 Timothy 1:16

You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. –Galatians 1:13-16

No matter what you’ve done if you honestly know and admit that you are a sinner who needs deliverance, believe that Jesus is God, believe that he came to die in place of you to save you from your sins, believe he was buried in a tomb and was resurrected three days later, and approach the Lord Jesus with true remorse and sincere repentance then surrender your life to him you will have salvation.

Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” -Mark 1:14-15

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. –Romans 3:21-31

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. –Ephesians 1:3-8