Repentance And Forgiveness

Memory Text:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NKJV).

In 1993, Mary Johnson’s only son, Laramiun Byrd, was killed by a teenager named Oshea Israel in Minneapolis. Oshea was sentenced to prison. For years, Mary carried deep anger and grief. But more than a decade later, she visited Oshea in prison and met him face to face.

In that meeting, Oshea admitted what he had done and asked for forgiveness. Mary embraced him. She later said that when she hugged the man who murdered her son, the anger she had carried for years was finally released. Forgiveness did not mean her son’s death no longer mattered. It meant hatred would not be allowed to rule her heart forever.

Years later, after Oshea was released, Mary called him her “spiritual son.” He even moved into the apartment next to hers. That is what repentance and forgiveness look like: repentance faces the truth of sin, and forgiveness refuses to let sin have the final word.

In this lesson, we will explore how repentance takes place and why forgiveness is important in the Christian life.

Conviction

We often hear people called “seekers”—that is, people who are in search of God. They want to know the truth. They want to see God for who He really is. They want to find God. Contrary to this idea, the Bible depicts humanity as going astray and wanting to be far from God. It is God who seeks us, not the other way around.

This is clear from the biblical story of the fall of man through Adam and Eve. When our first parents sinned, they hid themselves, sewed fig leaves to cover their nakedness, and did everything except go to God. The story goes on to show that it was God who came down in search of them.

Dear reader, salvation isn’t us seeking God; it is God seeking after us!

Now, why open this up? Because some have the unconscious idea that we must make the first move in the plan of salvation: that we repent first, and then God accepts us. But no.

The Bible is clear:

Romans 2:4 NKJV

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance! We first become aware. In order for that to happen, God moves in the sinful hearts of men. In theology, we call this prevenient grace, which simply means grace before saving grace. It means that God makes the first move. He awakens our dead senses. He makes us aware that something is wrong, that we are not as right as we think we are. He makes us realize our sinfulness, not because God wants us to be disgusted with ourselves, but because He wants us to be disgusted with sin. Then, and only then, as our previous lesson has shown, can we go to God in desperation to be cleansed, because we have been made aware of our sins.

But must the sinner wait until he has repented before he can come to Jesus? Ellen White answers clearly:

“We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ to awaken the conscience than we can be pardoned without Christ.”¹

Therefore, if you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. There is help for us only in God. We must not wait for stronger persuasions, better opportunities, or holier tempers. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must come to Christ just as we are.²

But it is not enough to be convicted.

Submission

But salvation is not realized until we submit to God’s conviction in our hearts, give up sin to Him, and take hold of His righteousness. It is not enough to know that sin is bad. We must choose to let God take the throne, resulting in sin being removed from its seat.

Describing a man who is convicted but not yet converted, Paul says:

Romans 7:18–19 NLT

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. [19] I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

The desire to do good is present, but he cannot perform it. This is because he has not yet fully yielded to the reign of God. Self still has a seat in the heart. Contrast that with this:

Philippians 2:13 NLT

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

So, the full gospel includes both the desire and the power to do what God has implanted in the heart. It is not enough to be convicted; we must be converted. We must give in, not to temptation, but to God’s conviction.

An army is as strong as its leader. We are conquered by sin because self is a weak leader. In fact, self is a slave to sin. But once self yields to the power of grace, it becomes more than a conqueror!

Romans 8:37 NKJV

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Restoration

“The very essence of the gospel is restoration.”³

This means that God does not merely forgive the sinner and leave him where sin has placed him. Forgiveness is glorious, but the gospel goes deeper. God forgives in order to heal. He pardons in order to cleanse. He accepts us in Christ in order to restore in us the image of Christ.

This is why the memory text does not stop with forgiveness:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NKJV).

The gospel is not only the removal of guilt; it is also the removal of sin’s power. Ellen White writes that the central theme of the Bible is

“the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God.”⁴

Sin has damaged the whole person—our desires, thoughts, relationships, habits, and character. But Christ came to restore all that sin has ruined.

This is important because many Christians stop at forgiveness. They sin, feel guilty, confess, feel forgiven, and then return to the same cycle again and again. Praise God that forgiveness is always available in Christ. But forgiveness is not God’s permission for us to remain enslaved. The same Christ who pardons also changes the heart.

Ellen White writes,

“Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. More than this, Christ changes the heart.”⁵

This is where repentance becomes visible. Genuine repentance is not merely sorrow for consequences; it is a turning away from sin and a turning toward God. Ellen White says,

“There is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it works reformation.”⁶

In other words, repentance is not proven by emotion alone, but by a life increasingly surrendered to Christ. The forgiven person begins to love what God loves and hate what sin has done. The heart that once hid from God now longs for communion with Him.

Therefore, restoration is not human self-improvement. It is not the sinner repairing himself so that God will accept him. It is the work of Christ in the surrendered soul. The sinner comes helpless, guilty, and broken; Christ forgives, cleanses, and restores. The gospel does not say, “Make yourself better, then come.” The gospel says, “Come to Christ, and He will make you new.”

Conclusion

Repentance and forgiveness are not two separate ideas loosely connected in the Christian life. They belong together in the work of salvation. Repentance is God awakening the sinner to see sin as it really is. Submission is the sinner yielding the heart to Christ. Forgiveness is God’s gracious pardon through Jesus. Restoration is God’s continuing work of cleansing and remaking the believer into the image of Christ.

This is why the story of Mary Johnson and Oshea Israel is so powerful. Oshea’s repentance required him to face the truth of what he had done. Mary’s forgiveness did not deny the wound, but refused to let hatred have the final word. Yet the gospel goes even further. In Christ, God does not only release us from condemnation; He restores us to Himself and teaches us to live as people made new by grace.

So do not wait until you feel worthy to come to Jesus. Come because you are unworthy. Come because you are guilty. Come because you are tired of hiding. Come because the same Savior who gives repentance also gives forgiveness, and the same Savior who forgives also restores.

The promise is sure: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The God who convicts is the God who forgives. The God who forgives is the God who restores. And the God who begins this good work will carry it forward until the image of Christ is fully reflected in His people.

Endnotes

Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Oakland, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1892), 26.
White, Steps to Christ, 31.
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Oakland, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), 824.
Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1903), 125.
White, Steps to Christ, 62.
White, Steps to Christ, 59.

Discussion Questions

Why is it important to understand that repentance itself is a gift from Christ, not something we produce by ourselves?
What is the difference between being sorry for the consequences of sin and being truly repentant?
Why is forgiveness more than simply saying, “It is okay”?
In what areas of your life do you need Christ not only to forgive you, but to restore you?
How does 1 John 1:9 show both pardon and cleansing as part of the gospel?

Repentance and Forgiveness