The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
When we study the Bible, we cannot help but see the failures of the great men and women of God. Abraham failed to wait on the son that God would give him, took matters into his own hands and ended up being the father of 2 nations that have been continually at war, to this very day. David failed to keep his lust under control and ended up becoming an adulterer and a murderer. And Peter, one of the 3 closest disciples of Jesus failed to stand by Him in his hour of need, fled and later denied that he even knew Him.
The Bible does not gloss over the failings of God’s people. It is a tragic but acute reality that the people of God sin, even those who are born again by the Holy Spirit. Sin is always crouching at the door of our lives waiting to overcome us. But we must remember God’s outrageous grace! God has promised in Hebrews 8:1 “I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sin no more.”
The Bible tells us that where sin abounds, God’s grace also abounds. This is not an excuse for sinning and living our lives our way instead of God’s way, but a promise that His grace will never run out. Jesus took all the punishment that we deserved so that we could be forgiven by God. Hebrews 10:18 tells us “Where these (sins) have been forgiven, an offering for sin is no longer needed.” We can stand forgiven before God because the offering that Jesus made of His own blood is enough. No more offerings are required. Romans 8:1 tells us that there will be no condemnation for those who are saved by Christ Jesus. The last two verses of this same chapter tell us that we will never be separated from God’s love by anything.
The lesson we can learn from the failures of Bible heroes is that God is a God of abundant grace. Though we sin against Him in thoughts, attitudes and actions, His steadfast love and everlasting mercies are available to any who will turn to Him in repentance. He is more than willing to forgive and forget our sins, if we will come to Him in humility through the precious blood of Jesus.
