“What does “God forgives us” mean?”

A4P Guest: I want to ask you about something that is bothering and confusing me these days. I am a 25-year old Christian girl. I grew up in a Christian family and I learned early on that sex before marriage is a grievous sin before God. I’ve been holding on to that truth since childhood. Nowadays, though, my faith is being shaken because many Christians are having sex before marriage and they seem okay with it. They are still coming to church and their relationship with God seems unshaken and unaffected by their sinful lifestyle; they seem to be happy and enjoying life to the fullest while I struggle and wage war against my flesh to keep my body, soul, and spirit pure; they seem to get married quickly, throwing their wedding parties in churches, and having kids too. Comparing my life with theirs, I began to doubt the importance or relevance of my stand against sexual immorality. If I get into that kind of life, God will forgive me and I should be able to move on with life just like them. It is hard for me now to see sexual sin as different from any other sin such as lying. And I feel like God won’t do anything special for me because I keep myself from sexual sin. Please tell me if I’m wrong in my thinking. I don’t know if the devil is deceiving me in this. What does “God forgives us” mean? Does it mean that when God forgives, He takes away the consequences of our sins and our life will be bliss?

A4P: What a precious topic for me to deal with on this gorgeous Sunday afternoon! Praise God!

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