The ar­tic­les in this pa­per speak about re­pen­tan­ce and mer­cy. Both are very im­por­tant in Chris­ti­a­ni­ty. They be­ca­me es­pe­ci­al­ly sig­ni­fi­cant to me about ten ye­ars ago. I had grown in a be­lie­ving home, but had fal­len away in­to un­be­lief be­cau­se of my sins.

God awa­ke­ned my cons­cien­ce, and I un­ders­tood that I should be­co­me a child of God again. God’s word spoke to me and sho­wed that I had sin­ned and should have my sins for­gi­ven. I be­gan to seek God’s for­gi­ve­ness.

God gui­ded my steps to a be­lie­ving per­son who pre­ac­hed all my sins for­gi­ven ba­sed on the sal­va­ti­on by Je­sus. My he­art was fil­led with joy and pe­a­ce. I had been re-born as a child of God, and I now had the hope of eter­nal life in my he­art. I wan­ted to gat­her to­get­her with ot­her be­lie­vers to hear God’s word in His cong­re­ga­ti­on.

Je­sus sent His cong­re­ga­ti­on to proc­laim re­pen­tan­ce and the for­gi­ve­ness of sins to all na­ti­ons (Luke 24:47). Mar­tin Lut­her taught, in ac­cor­dan­ce with the Bib­le, that re­pen­tan­ce is very simp­le. There are two parts to it: first, pe­ni­ten­ce for sin, and se­cond, be­lief in ab­so­lu­ti­on, which me­ans that the sin has been for­gi­ven through the me­rit of Je­sus.

The gos­pel re­ve­als to us God’s mi­ra­cu­lous grace: eve­ry­bo­dy can be­lie­ve their sins for­gi­ven in re­pen­tan­ce. God does not deny for­gi­ve­ness from any­bo­dy. On the cont­ra­ry, He of­fers it to all pe­op­le (Acts 17:30). The pe­op­le in God’s cong­re­ga­ti­on are still cal­ling those who are lost in the dark­ness of sin: re­pent and be­lie­ve the gos­pel.

Who­e­ver be­lie­ves the gos­pel re­cei­ves the Holy Spi­rit in­to His he­art and be­co­mes a mem­ber of God’s king­dom. In that king­dom we feel di­vi­ne pe­a­ce and joy even in the midst of life’s tur­moil (Rom. 14:17). In bap­tism God ma­kes with the be­lie­ving per­son a co­ve­nant of grace, whe­re­by He will nur­tu­re his faith with the gos­pel and keep him on the way to he­a­ven.

Text: Pek­ka Ait­ta­kum­pu

Trans­la­ti­on: S.-L. L.

Jul­kais­tu eng­lan­nin­kie­li­ses­sä nu­me­ros­sa 10.5.2017