Their confessions are a setup for celebrating grace and for reassuring people everywhere that if God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness can reach and transform the likes of them, it can also transform any kind of person.
They wanted to convince the world that the one, true God forgives not just once or twice, but repeatedly, and that he forgives not just so-called “little” sins, but also supremely shameful and significant ones.
God, these ancient saints want the world to know, is above all gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love (Psalm 103:8).
As Brennan Manning has written, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”
So how about us?
Do we believe these things like Jonah, Paul, and David did?
Do we believe them enough to shed our fig leaves and come out of hiding?
I pray we can go there.
Because the health of our souls depends in it.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
