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Forgiveness Is Available For Every SinThe Atonement Can, Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify Our Lives Shayne M. Bowen President Boyd K. Packer has taught: There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness, Ensign Nov 1995." There Is Nothing (Almost) That You Can't Be Forgiven OfJesus Christ will forgive through repentance every sin and transgression. The only exception I know of is denying the Holy Ghost. In order to deny the Holy Ghost you need personal, direct and open contact with heaven. The heavens need to be completely open to you. If all that happens to you and you still deny it and fight against it then you probably denied the Holy Ghost. This would apply to very few people. One of the big lies of Satan is you can't be forgiven. Satan would have you believe that once you commit a sin especially a big one that it is too hard and painful to repent. A worse lie is that God no longer loves you when you commit a grievous sin, but keep reading for more on that. Sin does and should cause pain; otherwise you wouldn't repent and change. Satan tells you it is too hard because it is in Satan's best interest that you don't repent. He wants you as miserable as he is. The more serious the sin the greater the misery. Some sins require more work for forgiveness than others do. Murder is the most serious sin. Sexual sins are the second most serious sin. Abortion is also a serious sin to God. Those who have had an abortion who desire baptism require special permission based on the individuals repentance. I have personally witnessed the repentance and forgiveness of someone who had an abortion, so I know forgiveness for this sin is true and real. Children hold a special place in Heavenly Father's and Jesus Christ's heart; so much so that children don't need repentance or baptism. Jesus Christ has said that through His atonement anything bad a child does is covered by His atonement. It is wrong to baptize children in any method or manner. The age of accountability is eight years. At age eight the kid has matured enough to know the difference between right and wrong. When Jesus Christ personally visited the American continent after His resurrection, He gave special attention to the children. Christ even unloosed the children's tongues where they taught things too powerful and sacred to include in scripture. The Pain of Sin And The Pain of Repentance Are Not The SameI wrote earlier that sin causes pain, as well it must. Repentance may not be fun but it is not the same as sinning and holding on to the sin. Repentance is the path back to God, but it is not one of misery like maintaining your sins. The scriptures say Jesus Christ is generally a fourth watch God, but not when it comes to repentance. Christ certainly does not want you to be fearful of repenting. Christ wants repentance to be a hopeful and edifying process, not one of damnation otherwise few would take it. The most important thing for both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is for you to come to them. They are constantly standing outside your door knocking pleading to come in to meet you. However, the doorknob is on your side not theirs. It is up to you to receive them. The test of this life is not about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ coming to you, they already have their arms wide open to receive you. The test is whether you will go to them so they can embrace you. Repentance is the way you restore your relationship with God. I say restore because you already know them intimately. Heavenly Father nurtured you and raised you when you were born to Him in spirit form in the pre-existence. Being Chastised By God Is A Good Thing Because He Does It With Love And In Because Of His Love You Don't Have Fear To Change And RepentThe Lord said in D&C 95: 1 "VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have love you." The Lord said three times that He loves you. He chastises you in love. Repentance is not something to fear. There is nothing greater in this world or the next than to feel the love of God, especially if He is saying you will feel His love in repentance. Think back on a time when you felt most loved by another person and multiply that by an infinite amount, that is the kind of love God has for you. It doesn't matter who you are, what religion or what country you come from or what sin you have done His love is the same. The Lord in D&C 121: 41-43 taught the proper way to correct others. " No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned. "By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile- "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost: and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; "That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death." God is will deal with you and I in our sins and transgressions exactly the same way. Jesus Christ is perfect in manifesting these character traits in your and my repentance process.
The Atonement Gives You Complete ForgivenessYou don't receive partial forgiveness but full forgiveness through repentance and His atonement. God said he will forget your sin if you repent. He never said you would forget it. It is meant that you remember your sin. This remembrance will be a deterrent in doing it again. You don't need to feel the pain or be tormented by it even though you can remember it. Full peace and happiness is restored to you through the atonement and repentance. Peace and happiness is what everyone wants in life. |