Question
I am looking for words of forgiveness and encouragement from God. I have a son in a drug rehab center that has turned his life over to the Lord. But is having doubts about God being able to forgive him. He believes that he is not worthy of God’s forgiveness.
Answer
Has your son done anything like the Apostle Paul? He abused Christians, had them thrown in jail, doubtless some were even killed. He stood by and watched Stephen lose his life at the hands of the Jews.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Or what about the Jews in Acts 2 who were confronted with the fact that they had crucified the Son of God? Certainly your son hasn’t done anything nearly that bad.
There are two points you need to keep in mind. First of all, all sin is the same in God’s eyes. You can search the scriptures, but you will never find anyone teaching that one sin is worse than another. Murder is no worse than lying. Stealing is no worse than cheating on your income taxes. All sin is the same to God, no matter what the sin.
Revelation 21:8 8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
So in a sense, your son’s sins are as bad as the sins of the people who crucified Christ, but we see in Acts 2 that all of them who repented were forgiven. The same can be true of your son.
Which brings me to the second point. There are many denominations in the world today, and that is exactly opposite from what Jesus prayed for in John 17: unity. In Matthew 7, Jesus taught that many people believe they are going to be saved, but on the last day they will instead be condemned.
Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
This is because most people do not have a love for the truth. They don’t really care about what God wants; rather, they are interested in serving Him as they see fit.
I want to take this opportunity to suggest that you and your son make absolutely certain of your salvation. Read through the book of Acts and make notes about how the people were converted. What took place at every conversion? How did the Christians in Acts worship? Are you worshiping in the same manner?
You need to make sure that you are meeting with a group of Christians who are worshiping the Lord the same way the Christians did in the New Testament. Although this isn’t foolproof, the best place to start is by checking the name. Romans 16:16 is a great place to start.
By Michael Molloy
