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Don't Focus On Your Sins - God Doesn't

Oftentimes we are told that the way to come to God is to be sorry for your sins and to ask God to forgive you of them. Whether we are discussing the Sinner’s Prayer, an altar call, or “praying through,” this idea that focuses on our sin is ubiquitous in Christendom and a common refrain on religious radio and television shows. This theme is often supported with the story of the Prodigal Son who we are told, came to his senses, felt bad, and decided to ask to be a servant. These ideas will preach and they have for centuries. 

 They’re wrong. 
The invitation from God isn’t “feel bad and ask for forgiveness.” Rather the invitation of God is to return to him; to come home. In this sense the Prodigal Son story is correct – come to your senses and come back where you belong. But what about our sins? 
Well, God says He will not pay attention to them. Why and when does God not pay attention to our sins? The answer is simple – when we come home. It is the coming home that matters. This return involves a change in our direction and a willingness to cooperate with God in our transformation into His likeness. When we come home, God dismisses our sins as a consequence of us moving back in with our Father and growing into The Image we have been created to be. 
It is true that often we do feel bad about our sins, our pride, our failure to live as our God intended, absolutely. This is often appropriate and valuable – for us. But it isn’t the criteria God has established either to have our sins forgiven or to be “saved.” That shift in our relationship with God happens when we intend to live in allegiance to God, in submissive desire to become like Him most fully. 

 Sins. God is going to ignore them. You might as well too. 

 Come home.

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