Soiled by sin and unworthy to enter the presence of God, or corrupted by evil deeds and hence unable to realize our true inner nature, we cry out to God for forgiveness of sins.
The experience of divine forgiveness and pardon is universal, reaching to supplicants in all the world’s religions. God is always desirous to forgive sins; it is His loving will to do so as our loving Parent.
The opening passages express God’s forgiving nature; the concluding texts describe removing sins as a process of cleansing.
God’s Forgiveness
O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
Qur’an 39.53
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43.25
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us.5 Ephesians 1.7-8
Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me, rightly resolved, in utter devotion. I see no sinner; that man is holy. Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal. O son of Kunti, of this be certain: the man who loves me shall not perish. Bhagavad-Gita 9.30-31 (Hinduism)
God the Almighty has said, “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.” Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 42 (Islam)
Let him utter the name, Buddha Amitayus. Let him do so serenely with his voice uninterrupted; let him be continually thinking of Buddha until he has completed ten times the thought, repeating, “Adoration to Buddha Amitayus.” On the strength of [the merit of] uttering the Buddha’s name he will, during every repetition, expiate the sins which involve him in births and deaths during eighty million kalpas.6 Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 3.30 (Buddhism)
Shining brightly, Agni, drive away our sin, and shine wealth on us. Shining bright, drive away our sin. For good fields, for good homes, for wealth, we made our offerings to Thee. Shining bright, drive away our sin… So that Agni’s conquering beams may spread out on every side, Shining bright, drive away our sin. Thy face is turned on every side, Thou pervadest everywhere. Shining bright, drive away our sin. Rig Veda 1.97.1-6 (Hinduism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
God has already forgiven us our sins. Do you think it would be possible for God to forgive us if He still thought that we were sinners? He forgives us because He looks at us with endless compassion. You should know that through forgiveness, all can be united as one. (41:333, February 18, 1972)
Great forgiveness is possible only when one understands the other person’s situation one hundred percent. Because God knows our situation, He forgives us. (2:220, May 26, 1957)
No one can criticize a parent who forgives a child who repents for his or her sin. No one can accuse that parent for not punishing the child. That is why Satan cannot accuse God for loving humankind and trying to save them.
Satan cannot make accusations against a person of perfect love. On the contrary, Satan voluntarily surrenders before him. The law requiring punishment yields to Heavenly Father’s love, by which He forgives repentant sinners. (62:52, September 10, 1972)
We know the shame of our first human ancestors before Heaven; we know that throughout history people have lived shameful lives; we know that the world we are living in is shameful. What can we be proud of before God?
Can we be proud of ourselves as individuals? No… we are not qualified to approach God.
Therefore, we should be willing to do anything that God wants us to do, anything that will make Him happy, anything that will allow Him to overlook our shame, in order that we might be forgiven of our sins. (66:18, March 11, 1973)
Cleansing and Purification
On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. Leviticus 16.30
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desires truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51.1-10
Thus hearing the litany, and that there be no blot of sin in the court or the country, May the deities bestow their purification that no offense remain, and As the wind blows from its origin to carry away the clouds of heaven, Even as the wind of morning and the wind of evening clears away the morning and evening mists, As the ship in harbor casts off its moorings stem and stern to be borne out onto the great plain of the sea, and As the rank grasses beyond the river are swept away with the clean stroke of the scythe— Even so, may the deity Seoritsuhime-no-kami, Dwelling in the swift-flowing stream that falls from the high mountains and low hills, Carry away these sins and pollutions without remain, to the wide sea plain. Our sins thus swept away, may the goddess Hayaakitsuhimi-no-kami, Who lives in the stream of the sea plain, Open wide her great mouth to engulf those sins and impurities, and When they are thus imbibed, May the god Ibukidonushi-no-kami, Dwelling in the place where breath is breathed, Blow them out with a great rushing breath. And when he has thus banished them to the underworld, May the goddess Hayasasurahime-no-kami disperse them once and all. Even in this way, may the sins of all in the realm, from officials of the court on down, every transgression within the land be washed away.8 Engishiki 8 (Shinto)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Just as the ocean takes in all manner of sewage and muddy water and then cleanses it, God, the original entity of absolute true love, resolutely works to cleanse the human world that deviated from the principles of His creation. (December 27, 2002)
Father! Please purify the minds and hearts of all Thy children who kneel before Thee. Work with Thy purifying touch in the soul of each one here. Please reveal all that is in each of our minds and bodies, Father, and sanctify everything.
Since it will not do unless all improper elements are separated out and cast away, O Father, please personally be the Lord who purifies us and the Lord of our hearts. (1:162, July 11, 1956)
Sun Myung Moon