In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:7–8)
John Owen once described God’s forgiveness in a way that can feel almost unrealistic. He wrote that God’s pardon is not narrow or reluctant like ours, but “full, free, boundless, bottomless, absolute” (Works of John Owen, 6:499). We often forgive in ways that reflect our fallenness: hesitantly, partially, begrudgingly. Owen’s point, however, is simple: God forgives generously and completely, in a way that reflects his own nature (Exodus 34:6–7) and displays the glory of his grace (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).
But even when we hear this, many of us struggle to believe God forgives us this way. We know the doctrines. Still, when we commit a familiar sin or face the shame of a new one, we may assume God is tired of us. We imagine he forgives because he chooses to, not because he wants to. In those moments, we quietly treat his grace as reluctant. Yet in Christ, God does not grow tired of receiving you, because his forgiveness does not rise and fall with your performance. It rests on the unchanging worth of his Son, whose intercession never falters (Romans 8:34).
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