God has the power to forgive our sins, but does he have the desire to do so?

I know that my question sounds strange. We simply assume that God will forgive us. With Heinrich Heine, who refused deathbed confession, we say, “God will forgive me. That’s his job.”

Actually, forgiveness is not God’s job. It is his choice. He is under no obligation to forgive habitual sinners any more than a governor is duty-bound to pardon convicted criminals. Forgiveness is a grace God freely gives. He does not have to do so, and we certainly have not deserved or earned it.

If forgiveness were God’s job, we would be ungrateful for it. No one thanks the garbage collector for picking up the trash, after all. He is just doing his job (Luke 17:7–10). And if forgiveness were God’s job, we would have little incentive to struggle against sin. We could dump our moral trash all over the street knowing full well that the Divine Garbage Collector would dutifully pick it up. Assuming forgiveness to be God’s duty, in sum, decreases our gratitude and increases our shamelessness.

When we see forgiveness as God’s choice, however, our gratitude increases and our desire to sin decreases. Why? Because we no longer take grace for granted.

So, back to my original question: Does God desire to forgive us? Thankfully, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” Consider the marvelous words of 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This verse outlines the condition, cause, and consequences of God’s forgiveness.

First, the condition: We must confess our sins. John writes, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). God cannot forgive our sins until we admit that we have them. His grace requires that we tell the truth about ourselves, as awful or ugly as that may be.

Second, the cause: Forgiveness is rooted in God’s character. God is “faithful and just.” He chooses not to turn his back on us when we have turned our backs on him (2 Tim. 2:13), which is faithfulness. And he treats us as though we were as righteous as Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to make our forgiveness possible (2 Cor. 5:21). That is his justice.

Third, the consequences: God erases our past and makes possible our future. When he forgives us, God treats us as if we had never sinned. But when he purifies us, he gives us the power we need to increasingly master sin both now and in the future. In the words of the famous hymn, when he forgives us, God “breaks the power of canceled sin” and “sets the prisoner free.”

God does not have to forgive us. He wants to. So, let us ask him for grace with gratitude, humility, and resolution to live godly lives from now on.