Is there a positive in God's apparent fixation with 'sin'?

Why does God seem to take so much issue with shortcomings and ‘sin’?

(In short, it is because it separates him from ‘people’ who he loves and longs for . . .)

Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:7 NASB

(People may well be confused about what ‘good news’ there is in having so many bible passages apparently declaring them guilty of sin about all sorts of issues, along with the opinion of those seemingly quick to pronounce punishment and doom as a result.

Why does God seem so preoccupied and severe with ‘sin’? He is often described as ‘hating’ sin and being displeased with those who sin. One reason, primarily, is because he passionately loves all people and longs for them to be in his presence and to enjoy being part of his family. However he can only ever be who he is, and humanity’s tendencies towards waywardness, sinfulness and self-will have resulted in people becoming alienated and separated from him. This is not what God wants at all. It is the reason he has been called a ‘jealous’ God – and this is not him being petty.

It can be confusing to know what he wants when part of our natural human make-up includes behaviour prompted by emotional needs and drives that seem to be labelled by God as ‘sins’. It does not seem reasonable that we could have been made as we are by a supposedly loving God who would then place expectations upon us beyond our ability to live up to, i.e. to virtually ‘set us up’ for failure.

While some human activity, such as inflicting cruelty and suffering on others, seems obviously wrong, other things can seem normal and harmless, e.g. bragging, swearing, getting angry or falling in love with someone. Doing such things would hardly seem to be out of the ordinary or what we would consider serious wrongdoing. The same can apply to questions of why, if God has bestowed on us an intellectual capacity for knowledge, reason and logic, that he should expect us to come to right conclusions about his existence without more concrete and visible evidence.

Help in trying to understand some of these apparent anomalies may be found by considering just how such issues might indeed look from a perspective beyond our own. In this case, instead of seeing things purely from our own human point of view, we might consider what would be the issues for a God, such as the one he has sought to reveal himself to be in the bible, who knows and wants absolutely what is best for us.

From our human perspective, it seems to follow that if we were indeed ‘made’ by God, and merely doing what comes naturally, it is unreasonable that we should be judged and punished for not meeting impossibly high standards of virtue, apparently to remain in his favour.

From the perspective of God, however, (if he indeed exists and has chosen the bible as one of the ways to make himself known), humanity is shown to be at the peak of all that he has created, destined for unity with himself and to reflect his perfection in all things - including a prevailing morality - in an outworking of His desire that, by his sustaining life, people might enjoy his presence and favour in an intimate and mutual love forever.)

References:

By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures. James 1:18 GNT

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon and the stars you set in place —
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?

Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour.
You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority —
the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Psalm 8: 1‑9 NLT

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” —
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.”

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2: 6‑12 NIV

(Further comments: we learn that God has an enemy who led a rebellion and fell from God’s grace. Through his influence on humanity (with our given capacity for free will choice), people also have fallen under the influence of that rebellion, bringing corruption to our intended reflection of God-likeness. The result has been that humanity’s God-given identity and destiny have became marred and spoiled under the influence of that enemy.

The fallen angel, Satan, is described as having opened himself, through pride in his own former status and magnificence in heaven, to distorted views about his significance and status. He has then enticed us as human beings with his same deceptive reasoning about the desirability of, and entitlement to, becoming masters of our own fate – wrongly implying that our God-given glory includes an inherent and desirable capacity for independence and self-sufficiency.

Asserting our self-determination in this way thus holds hope that by making use of our given intelligence to discern the rights and wrongs of our choices, we can thereby create our own destinies – not realising that this has ensnared us in a trap that brings an impenetrable and irreversible rift in our relationship with God, severing our connection with the order and perfection of his realm where love, trust, intimacy, purity of intent and unity of purpose contribute to holding all things harmoniously together.

We hadn’t wanted to choose evil over good - but we had asserted another will (self will) that severed our connection to the source of our sustaining life, unaware that free will (which is core to any relationship of love and trust) exercised impulsively and independently, could bring such devastating consequences, both for ourselves and also for God with his desires toward us.

Given the above, some might ask whether it would have been better (for our own good) for God to have denied that choice of exerting our own reason and will - although, given the realities of his eternal realm, apparently not.

We also might ask whether God foresaw that almost inevitable likelihood of the fall and its consequences - and in light of his claimed sovereignty, it would seem so.

So why take the risk of initiating a whole enterprise that is now this world - which has come to entail so much turmoil and suffering? We are presently not well equipped to adequately speculate on the wisdom of God’s purposes and his ministrations, and some humility on our part is called for. We are assured he will be seen for all time to have acted justly and that no accusation brought against him will stand.

A consequence of ‘the fall’ is that it introduced competing wills into this world where God’s perfect will stopped holding total sway. Having continuing respect for our free will, God withdrew somewhat from earth and us, though not totally, because he was quietly working on a plan to defeat the very inevitability of those consequences resulting from Satan’s deceptive and destructive influence among people.

God had formulated a plan, where his relentless love and wisdom could find a way to win us back to himself. He displayed a willingness to redeem, no matter what the price, even to the point of allowing that which was most precious and dear to his heart, his own Son, Jesus, to become victim, on our behalf, to a cruel death of crucifixion – which he also foreknew – and whose dying, when he came, was even more important to us than his life.)

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(If there is a good and loving God, why does the bible teach something that to us seems so grossly and obviously unfair: that because of a choice made by one person, all subsequent progeny are held accountable and sentenced beforehand to suffer with him in his punishment?

Also, if God is merciful, shouldn’t our own sincere efforts and the good that we have done (based on what opportunities we had) offset our mistakes and count for something against punishment?

Considerations: From our human perspective it can seem unfair that all now share in a collective guilt and suffer the consequences of living in a ‘fallen’ world - where nature can trigger natural disasters, epidemics, etc, and where pain, death and suffering abound. Because the choice was exercised when we were not individually present, it is hard for us to see ourselves as personally complicit in its making.

There can only be one reality and ‘will’ in the presence of a Supreme Being. The idea of a ‘collective’ choice having been made by ‘one man’ that has had consequences for all of the human race is something in God’s dimension that is difficult for us to understand, particularly with our present day focus on achieving social justice for all in terms of ‘fairness’, equality and human rights and a respect for each person’s individuality and choices.

However, if our deemed complicity does reflect how things work in the reality of God’s unseen spiritual realm, there is one advantage for us in that the destiny of humankind over a single wrong choice made by one, has been overcome by ‘one’ - Jesus - the only one able to offer himself as a sinless substitute, legally able to pay the penalty sufficient to provide absolution from our inherited and acquired guilt.

Our penalty, outstanding and beyond our ability to pay, except by our own eternal death (or separation from God), was paid for us, i.e., on our behalf, by God’s own son, who laid down his life to purchase an ‘opt in’ salvation that is available to all living people. Anyone who will avail themselves of it has access to it – it requires no merit of our own – indeed attempting to argue our own merit, e.g., seeking justification on grounds of (our own sense of) fairness or the efforts we have made to redeem ourselves in some way, merely maintains the legal barrier. There is no other legal manoeuvre by which it may be absolved, except by making claim to that one perfect and ‘sinless’ sacrifice.)

References:

Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5: 16‑19 NIV

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8: 19‑25 NIV

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 9:14 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8: 1‑4 NIV

When you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4: 21‑24 NIV

(Some of the more difficult issues to understand about God rest simply with the reality that he is who he is, a reality that neither we nor he can alter. Some have asked: “How can we believe in a good God who will apparently punish people forever in hell, merely for not being aware of, or convinced of, his existence?”

Issues relating to the ‘hereafter’ have to do with the realm of the eternal, as opposed to this temporary earthly dimension that we find ourselves in at present. As God’s plan for our destiny was always that we be in relationship with him in his immortality, we were created from the beginning with an immortal soul. Our soul enters immortality after the physical death of our mortal body but the state of our existing relationship with God will then determine whether we are able to remain in his presence (which is pure light - there are no shadows cast there) or, on finding ourselves in the gaze of him who we perhaps ignored or rejected, we will be wanting only to shrink and flee from the intensity of that presence.

We know from experience that we cannot generate darkness, but it is the state that occurs when there is no light. Similarly, if we cannot stand by faith in the purity and light of God’s presence, we will not be able to endure or live in it, so will find ourselves in a place that has sometimes been called ‘outer darkness’ or ‘death’ because there we are separated from God who is our source of sustaining life and all that is good.

In the bible, this separated state has been described as being in a ‘bottomless pit’ or an abyss (a never ending void or emptiness) or a place of judgement and torment. Such a ‘death’ does not mean oblivion but being in a state apart from God. It is an inevitable end to where evil, suffering and all devices of Satan’s rebellion and downfall will be segregated and banished – it has never been God’s will or desire for any person to end up in such a place - and he longs that all would let him deal with the ‘sin problem’ (that we each have) and allow (through faith and belief) Jesus’ own ‘righteousness’ to be bestowed upon us as his free gift.

Perhaps that realm of darkness, even with its pain of eternal regret, but away from the acute discomfort of his presence, may in some respects still be a final expression of his infinite mercy.

As it is not God’s desire that any person should be lost, he has preserved our mortality for this period of time on earth so that there is opportunity to ‘opt in’ to his rescue plan before entering immortality after which time the opportunity for redemption will have come to a close).

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 NIV

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. John 3: 16‑21 NIV

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 10‑15 NIV

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” John 12: 44‑50 NIV

For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." Deuteronomy 18:16 NIV

And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” Exodus 33: 17‑23 NIV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Exodus 34: 29‑33 NIV

The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way [trying to keep the law], which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way [receiving grace by believing], which makes us right with God! . . .

Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.  . . . But the people’s minds were hardened, and . . . this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, . . . whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
2 Corinthians 3: 7‑18 NIV

“About noon as I [Paul] came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.

“My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.  ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.  ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name’.” Acts 22: 6‑16 NIV

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References:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2: 1‑10 NIV

The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behaviour, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.

“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behaviour and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.

“Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? When righteous people turn from their righteous behaviour and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.

“Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live! Ezekiel 18: 20‑31 NLT

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(Attempting to see the situation through God’s eyes may help us understand how much he is trying to reach out towards us as his cherished offspring, as would any father on a desperate rescue mission to save a lost child or watching jealously over a vulnerable son or daughter. God shows himself to be passionately opposed toward all influences of ‘sin’ that would separate him from those he loves or rob him of opportunity to become reconciled with those he longs for – which is every person. He is against any influence that would hinder people from responding to and availing themselves of that opportunity to receive his gift of redeeming and transforming grace.

This is the picture that Jesus gave us of God, the Father, in one of his particularly well known parables, inadvertently losing some of its potency by becoming known as the story of the ‘prodigal son’. The theme of this story is actually intended to demonstrate the heart of the Father. You will note that the father’s reality is that he has to allow his son’s choices, even to make mistakes, as a free agent – and though he longs for the return of his son and looks out for him with open arms, he is constrained by the need to wait for his son’s willing response and acknowledgement of need, aching over the risk of perhaps even a permanent loss in the possible non-return of his beloved.)

Reference:

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15: 11‑24 NIV

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(The many passages listed below consist of both warnings and invitations found in the bible about the serious life and death issues we face with regard to ‘sin’ and its implications for the quality of our lives, our relationship with God, and our very identity and destiny forever. It is a hope that you, as reader, might begin to catch even a glimpse of the longing heart of God the Father expressed toward even the most wayward and sense his urgency over the issues at stake – and that we may begin to understand something of his ‘jealous’ and tender love towards every person.

This love of God’s also explains his fierce ‘anger’ towards anything that would hinder our rescue from the insidious clutches of our enemy, Satan, the deceiver and author of all sin and death who is already in defeat, yet thrashing about in spiteful revenge to cause harm and bring down with him as many people as he can because they remain always the objects of God’s most constant love and desire for good.)

References:

How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. Hebrews 2:3 NIV

For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4 NIV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1: 17‑23 NIV

 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river,
your well-being like the waves of the sea
Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains;
their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.” Isaiah 48: 17‑19 NIV

“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ Ezekiel 33:11 NKJV

And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none but me.
Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
are deliverance and strength’.”
All who have raged against him will come to him
and be put to shame.
But all the descendants of Israel
will find deliverance in the Lord
and will make their boast in him. Isaiah 45: 21‑25 NIV

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Some further concepts:

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. Psalm 5:4 ESV

But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. Psalm 86:15 NASB

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. Psalm 103:8 NASB

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. Psalm 116:5 NASB

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 36: 5‑7 NASB

Behold, then, the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. Romans 11:22 NASB

So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7 NASB

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Genesis 5:1 AKJV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27 NASB

But God, [is] rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us - Ephesians 2:4 NASB

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NASB

Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. Psalm 119:90 NASB

He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:22 NIV

“You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” Psalm 90:8 NIV

“O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.” Psalm 69:5 ESV

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. Psalm 5:4 NASB

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5: 43‑48 NIV

God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. Psalm 7:11 ESV

Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious . . . Amos 5:15 ESV

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 NIV 

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." John 3:3 NIV

You shall not worship [idols] or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, . . . Exodus 20:5 NASB

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24 NASB

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6: 35‑36 NIV

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“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7: 18‑23 NIV

. . . [The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 NIV

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1 Corinthians 15:56 NIV

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV84

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For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18 CSB

Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy. James 4:4 GNT

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15 NIV

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. Proverbs 8:13 ESV

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4: 6‑10 ESV

You people, how long will you malign my reputation?
How long will you love what is vain and what is false?
But understand this: the LORD has set apart the godly for himself!
The LORD will hear me when I cry out to him!
Be angry, yet do not sin.
Think about this when upon your beds, and be silent.
Offer sacrifices that are righteous, and put your confidence in the LORD.
Many are asking, “Who will help us to see better days?”
LORD, may the light of your favour shine upon us.  Psalm 4: 2‑6 ISV

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To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; Daniel 9:9 NASB

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. Romans 2: 1‑8 NIV

They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; and You did not forsake them. Nehemiah 9:17 NASB

But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, and many times You rescued them according to Your compassion, . . . Nehemiah 9:28 NASB

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Ephesians 4:18 NIV

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.  . . . And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:1, 3‑6 NIV84

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And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7 ESV

“If you forgive people their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people their offenses, your Father will not [be able to] forgive your offenses.” Matthew 6: 14‑15 ISV

But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, hateful of good, traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof. Turn away from these, also. 2 Timothy 3: 1‑5 NHEB

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor men who have sexual relations with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6: 9‑11 NHEB

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1: 28‑32 NET

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18 NIV

You must worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. Exodus 34:14 NLT

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’
Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58: 1‑11 NIV

A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.
Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.
When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction are the way to life,
Proverbs 6: 12‑23 NIV

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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 NIV

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. John 3:19 ESV

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned — . . . sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5: 6‑21 NIV

But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say — as some slanderously claim that we say — “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just! What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3: 5‑12 NIV

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Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6: 7‑8 NIV

"Don't lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don't break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6: 19‑23 WEB

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Romans 7:15 ESV

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. Luke 23:34 ESV

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts . . . Hebrews 3: 12‑15 NIV

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” John 8:34 NIV

Be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23 ESV

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Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59: 1‑2 NIV

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:15 ESV

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 ESV

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16 ESV

Therefore Sheol [death] has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem's splendour, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it. Isaiah 5:14 NASB

"However, You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nehemiah 9:30 NASB

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? Romans 9:22 NASB

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. Proverbs 14:34 NIV

For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. Romans 7:5 ESV

Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.
Jeremiah 5:25 NLT

[Jesus] said to them, "You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins." They said therefore to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you.

“However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world." They didn't understand that he spoke to them about the Father. Jesus therefore said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn't left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." As he spoke these things, many believed in him.

Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, 'You will be made free?'"

Jesus answered them, "Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn't live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8: 23‑36 WEB

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For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 6‑8 ESV

But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9: 26‑28 NIV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 NIV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 ESV

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10 ESV

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 NIV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7 NIV

Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:14 NIV

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 NIV

Just as Moses lifted up the [brass] snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up [i.e. crucified], that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3: 14‑21 NIV

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 6‑8 NIV

It happened as [Jesus] sat in the house . . . many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with [him] and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9: 10‑13 WEB

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So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20 NASB

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will [meet] together as friends.” Revelation 3:20 NLT

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV

Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. Psalm 103: 13‑14 NASB

"Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me."
Isaiah 49: 15‑16 NASB

"Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 31:20 NASB

The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145: 8‑9 NASB

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18 NASB

"For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," Says the LORD your Redeemer. Isaiah 54: 7‑8 NASB

"I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back, because I have had compassion on them; and they will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.” Zechariah 10:6 NASB

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. Ezekiel 39:25 NASB

"For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him." 2 Chronicles 30:9 NASB

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 36:5 NASB

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 22‑23 NASB

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 ESV

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2: 3‑4 ESV

"In an outburst of anger, I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," says the Lord your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8 NASB

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36 NASB

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:7 NIV

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:32 NIV

He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. Psalm 103: 9‑13 NHEB

We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 AKJV

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” 1 John 4:10 NRSV

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2: 3‑4 NIV

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 NASB

But now, this is what the Lord says —
he who created you, . . . he who formed you, . . .
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; . . . Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, . . .
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west . . .
everyone . . . called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.
All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no saviour. . .
Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?” Isaiah 43: 1‑13 NIV

O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10 ESV

Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out labourers into his harvest."  Matthew 9: 35‑38 WEB

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8: 3‑11 NIV

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” Luke 15: 11‑31 NIV

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3: 16‑17 ESV

So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21 NIV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 ESV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because [of not being in belief of] the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18 ESV

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 NIV

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51: 1‑2 NASB

Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Psalm 103: 3‑4 NASB

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7: 18‑19 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 NASB

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. John 14:23 NIV

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19 NIV

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15: 3‑4 NIV

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:53 NASB

. . . If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on him. For, "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10: 9‑13 NHEB

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector [turncoat and mobster] and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19: 1‑10 NIV

To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12: 20‑21 ESV

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see . . . Hebrews 11:1 NIV84

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV84

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 NASB

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6: 1‑2 NIV

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6: 5‑6 NIV

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 NIV

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 NIV

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Psalm 32:1 NIV

And that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. Job 11:6 ESV

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord: “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 ESV

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36: 25‑26 ESV

“And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34 ESV

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV

When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” Romans 4: 4‑8 NLT

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. Revelation 3:5 NLT

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. Revelation 21:3 NLT

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Hebrews 8:10 ESV

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Leviticus 26:12 ESV

I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Ezekiel 37: 26‑27 ESV

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old [self] was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6: 5‑11 WEB

But you know that [Jesus] appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. 1 John 3: 5‑10 NIV

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. Zechariah 2: 10‑11 ESV

I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" Zechariah 13:9 NLT

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3: 16‑17 NIV

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 1 John 4:15 NIV

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 ESV

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Leviticus 26:12 NASB

“There is no question of our having sufficient power in ourselves: we cannot claim anything as our own. The power we have comes from God.” 2 Corinthians 3:5 REB

Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 3: 1‑3 NASB

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

 . . . For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”?  Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?  And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above [all]
by anointing you with the oil of joy.” Hebrews 1: 1‑9 NIV

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. Romans 3: 19‑31 NIV

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

Being made free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6: 16‑23 NHEB

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How great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. 1 John 3: 1‑5 WEB

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. John 14: 23‑24 ESV

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 NIV

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1: 7‑9 ESV

That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 NIV

But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:13 NIV84

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony . . . Revelation 12: 10‑11 NIV84

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7 NIV84

He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. Revelation 2:11 NIV84

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Revelation 2:17 NIV84

To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations. Revelation 2:26 NIV84

He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. Revelation 3:5 NIV84

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. Revelation 3:12 NIV84

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. Revelation 3:21 NIV84

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2 ESV

Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:104 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, . . . Ephesians 4:2 ESV

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15: 4‑5 NIV

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Romans 6:13 NIV

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1 NIV

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11 NIV

Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die. Proverbs 19:16 NIV

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10: 12‑13 NLT

All who [overcome] will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. Revelation 21:7 NLT

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

For this cause, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 14‑19 ESV

But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. Hebrews 3:6 ESV

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5: 8‑9 NIV

Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield. Psalm 5:12 NIV

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9 NIV

Beloved, let us love one another, For love is of God And everyone who loves Is born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 NASB

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 NIV

Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Psalm 97: 10‑11 NIV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love. By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning [payment as a] sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Saviour of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.

If a man says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother. 1 John 4: 7‑21 WEB

(Typically we humans can only explain our shortcomings away by saying they are natural and therefore cannot be ‘sins’ and wrongdoing, or that the standards are too high for people to realistically achieve, and therefore shouldn’t be judged and treated so harshly, i.e. to either lower the bar or explain its importance away. These ways of rationalising the problem do not make it cease being a problem between us and God, but fortunately He has provided an effective remedy that has addressed and solved the problem for us completely and conclusively. All we need to do is graciously receive it - by faith.)

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