No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, true forgiveness is within reach. You don’t have to live in shame and fear. God offers you the will and power to sincerely repent before Him and be cleansed from your sins.

The apostle Paul wrote to us about the awesome power of Jesus’ sacrifice by which we have forgiveness and newness of life: “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14, New Living Translation). Through that ultimate sacrifice God completely removes our sins when we repent and dedicate ourselves to living a new life of overcoming sin.

Paul explained the role of baptism in demonstrating our repentance and eagerness to live to please God: “You were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead” (Colossians 2:12, NLT).

Once a Christian begins a new life in Christ, he or she still isn’t perfect and entirely sinless, but a repentant Christian is able to overcome and, step by step, conquer sin through the help of God’s Holy Spirit. You can have the power to overcome and grow spiritually if you seek God with your whole heart and submit yourself to His incredible will for your life.

God is calling you to repentance. If you have not begun to answer that calling, we hope you will do so without further delay. God is offering you and all of us a life with a glorious future—the life of a forgiven child of God!