It is a great misconception to think that God forgives us because He loves us. Yes, God does love us, but forgiveness is only possible because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. His death is the only reason we are forgiven. When we say yes to Jesus Christ, when we acknowledge and believe what He did on the cross, only then does God hear and forgive our sins.
For the most part, real conviction of sin rarely happens in humans. It’s even true of some Christ-followers. We may feel bad for having done a particular bad thing, but deep conviction, the kind of remorse produced by the Holy Spirit will leave us reeling at the thought that we’ve disobeyed our Father. No other relationship matters at this point.
When we repent in this way, God remembers Jesus’ brutal death on the cross and He forgives us. That’s it. It is only at the cross that He is satisfied. It is only because of the sacrifice of Jesus that we are forgiven any sin. There are no degrees of it, no levels. Don’t be deceived. Any wrongdoing is sin. It’s all the same in the sight of God, to whom we sin against. That’s why the Bible says, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord (Romans 6:23 emphasis mine).
