STUDY ARTICLE 24
Na Jehovah De Forgive for the Best Way
“You, O Jehovah, you good and you ready to forgive; your love no de fail for people wey put their heart for you.”—PS. 86:5.
SONG 42 Prayer of Person Wey E De Serve God
WETIN WE GO LEARN? a
1. Wetin King Solomon teach us for Ecclesiastes 7:20?
KING Solomon talk for Bible say: “Nobody dey righteous for this earth wey de always do good, wey no de ever sin.” (Eccl. 7:20) That one really dey correct! All of us de sin. (1 John 1:8) So, all of us need God and other people to forgive us.
2. How e de be when your tight friend forgive you?
2 Maybe you remember one time wey you do wetin vex your tight friend. You want correct the matter and fix wuna friendship, so you tell your friend make e no vex for wetin happen. How you feel when your friend forgive you with all e heart? This one no sweet you? True-true, e sweet you, and you happy too!
3. Wetin we go talk about for this article?
3 We want make Jehovah be our number one tight Friend. But sometimes, we go talk or do things wey go make Jehovah vex. But why we fit really dey sure say Jehovah dey ready to forgive us? How the way Jehovah de forgive dey different from the way we de forgive? And who Jehovah de forgive?
JEHOVAH DEY READY TO FORGIVE
4. Why we fit really dey sure say Jehovah dey ready to forgive?
4 Bible make us dey sure say, Jehovah dey ready to forgive. When Jehovah tell Moses about e self for Mount Sinai, e send angel to talk say: “Jehovah, Jehovah, God wey get pity, e get soft-heart, e no de vex quick-quick, na only truth e de talk and e love no de fail, e de show love wey no de fail to thousands of people, e de forgive mistake and sin.” (Ex. 34:6, 7) Jehovah dey kind and na God wey de show pity. E always dey ready to forgive sinners wey don repent.—Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15.
Jehovah really know everything wey don happen for our life wey don make us the kind people wey we be (Check paragraph 5)
5. With wetin Psalm 103:13, 14 talk, wetin Jehovah de do as e really know the kind person wey we be?
5 Because na Jehovah make us, e know everything about us. Just think-am! Jehovah know everything about everybody for this earth. This one no dey wonderful? (Ps. 139:15-17) So, e fit see all the comma wey we get from our papa and mama. E even know wetin don happen for our life wey don make us the kind people wey we be. As Jehovah know us well like that, wetin this one de make Jehovah do? This one de make Jehovah show us mercy.—Ps. 78:39; read Psalm 103:13, 14.
6. How Jehovah don show say e really want forgive us?
6 Jehovah don show say e really dey ready to forgive. E understand say because of the thing wey the first man Adam do, all of us de sin. And as time de go, we go die. (Rom. 5:12) We no go fit do anything to free ourself or other people from sin and death. (Ps. 49:7-9) But our God wey love us show us pity and do something to free us. Wetin e do? As John 3:16 talk, Jehovah send e special Son to die for us. (Matt. 20:28; Rom. 5:19) Jesus die instead of us so that anybody wey show say e get faith for e sacrifice go dey free. (Heb. 2:9) E go don really pain Jehovah to see the way e Son wey e really love suffer and die! The truth na say, Jehovah for no allow e Son to die if e no want forgive us.
7. Give example of some people for Bible wey Jehovah don forgive from e heart.
7 For Bible, we get plenty example of people wey Jehovah forgive from e heart. (Eph. 4:32) Which of them you fit think of? E fit be say King Manasseh come your mind. That wicked man sin against Jehovah for serious ways. E worship lie-lie gods, and e make other people do the same thing. E kill e own children, and e use them as sacrifice for lie-lie gods. E even do sotey, e put image of lie-lie god inside Jehovah holy temple. Bible talk about Manasseh say: “E do plenty-plenty things wey Jehovah see as bad things, to make-am vex.” (2 Chron. 33:2-7) But when Manasseh show say e don really repent, Jehovah forgive-am from E heart. God even allow Manasseh to be king again. (2 Chron. 33:12, 13) Maybe King David still come your mind. E do serious bad things against Jehovah. And e even sleep with another man wife and kill the man. But Jehovah forgive David too when e gree say e don sin, and show say e don really repent. (2 Sam. 12:9, 10, 13, 14) True-true, we fit dey sure say Jehovah really want forgive us. And as we go see, the way Jehovah de forgive dey different from the way we de forgive.
THE WAY JEHOVAH DE FORGIVE DEY SPECIAL
8. Since Jehovah na the best Judge, how this one de make-am know when to forgive?
8 Jehovah na the “Judge of the earth.” (Gen. 18:25) Better judge need to really understand the law well. And true-true na so Jehovah be, because apart from say e be our Judge, e still be the Person wey de give us law. (Isa. 33:22) Nobody know wetin dey right and wrong reach the way Jehovah know-am. Which other thing better judge de do? Before e judge, e need to know everything about the matter. So, Jehovah na the best Judge because e de always know everything about any matter.
9. When Jehovah want decide whether e go forgive or e no go forgive, which things e de look?
9 Jehovah no de judge the way people de judge, e de always know everything about any matter. (Gen. 18:20, 21; Ps. 90:8) E de see pass wetin people fit see or hear. E understand everything wey make person de do the things wey e de do. For example, the different-different character wey the person get from e papa and mama, the way they train-am, the place wey e grow, and the way e de feel and think. Apart from that one, Jehovah know wetin dey inside person heart. E really understand why person do the thing wey e do. Jehovah de see everything. (Heb. 4:13) So, when Jehovah forgive person, na because e know everything about the matter.
Jehovah de judge well, e de do correct things, and e no de do partial. Nobody fit bribe-am (Check paragraph 10)
10. Why we fit talk say the way Jehovah de judge de always dey correct and partial no dey? (Deuteronomy 32:4)
10 The judgment wey Jehovah de give de always correct and partial no dey at all. Jehovah no de ever forgive person just because the person fine, e get money, e dey important or e sabi do plenty things. (1 Sam. 16:7; Jas. 2:1-4) Nobody fit force or bribe Jehovah to do something. (2 Chron. 19:7) Jehovah no de ever decide something just because e like person or e tire for the situation. (Ex. 34:7) True-true, Jehovah na the best Judge because e understand everything about us and our condition.—Read Deuteronomy 32:4.
11. Wetin make the way Jehovah de forgive dey different for special way?
11 The people wey write Hebrew Scriptures know say the way Jehovah de forgive really dey different for special way. For some situation, they use one Hebrew word wey one book talk about. The book talk say them de use this word only “to describe the way God de forgive sinners. That word no ever describe the way person de forgive another person.” When sinner don repent, na only Jehovah get the power to forgive the person finish. Which things de happen when Jehovah forgive us?
12-13. (a) When Jehovah forgive person, wetin the person de gain? (b) When Jehovah forgive us, how long the gain de last?
12 When we accept say Jehovah don forgive us, this one de make us feel fine, get peace of mind and clean conscience. We fit feel like that, only if na Jehovah forgive us. (Acts 3:19) When Jehovah forgive us, e de allow us to be e friend again. And this one go just be like say we no even sin before.
13 When Jehovah forgive us, e no de ever use the sin against us or punish us again for the sin. (Isa. 43:25; Jer. 31:34) Just “as morning dey far from evening,” na so Jehovah de put our sins far from us. b (Ps. 103:12) The way Jehovah de forgive really dey wonderful. When we think about this one, e de really touch us and de make us thank God with all our heart. (Ps. 130:4) But, who Jehovah go forgive like this?
WHO JEHOVAH GO FORGIVE?
14. Wetin we don learn come reach now about why Jehovah go forgive person or no go forgive person?
14 We don see-am say, no be whether the sin wey person do big or small de make Jehovah forgive person or no forgive. And we don learn say, when Jehovah de decide whether e go forgive person, e de use the things wey e know as the Person wey make us, the Person wey de give us law, and our Judge. But which things Jehovah de think about before e decide whether e go forgive or e no go forgive?
15. With wetin Luke 12:47, 48 talk, wetin be one thing wey Jehovah de think about?
15 One thing wey Jehovah de look na whether the sinner know say the thing wey e do dey bad. Jesus make this one clear for Luke 12:47, 48. (Read-am.) When person plan to do something wey God hate and the thing na wicked thing, and the person still do-am, e don do serious sin. Jehovah fit decide say e no go forgive that person. (Mark 3:29; John 9:41) But the truth na say, sometimes, we know say the thing wey we do no good. We get hope say God go forgive us? Yes! And this one go make us talk about another thing wey Jehovah de think before e decide to forgive.
We fit trust say Jehovah go forgive us when we repent from our heart (Check paragraph 16-17)
16. Wetin e mean to repent, and why this one dey important if we want make Jehovah forgive us?
16 Another thing wey Jehovah de look na whether the sinner don really repent. Wetin e mean to repent? When person don repent, this one mean say e don “change e mind, e character or e plan.” Part of wetin this one mean na say the person de regret and really feel sad say e don do bad things, or say e no do the correct things wey e suppose do. When person don repent, e no de only feel sad because e don do bad things, but e still de feel sad because e allow e friendship with Jehovah to dey weak. And na this one push-am to do the bad things. Remember say King Manasseh and King David do serious sins; but, Jehovah forgive them because they repent from their heart. (1 Ki. 14:8) True-true, Jehovah must see something wey go show say we don really repent, so that e go fit forgive us. But only to feel sorry about the bad things wey we do no dey enough. We must dey ready to do something. c And this one go make us talk another thing wey Jehovah de think about.
17. Wetin e mean to convert, and why this one dey important if we no want repeat the sins wey we don do? (Isaiah 55:7)
17 Another important thing wey Jehovah de think about na conversion. Conversion or to convert mean “to turn round.” To put-am for another way, this one mean say person must change the way e de live e life. E must stop to do bad things and start to live e life the way Jehovah want. (Read Isaiah 55:7.) The person must change e mind so that e go fit allow the way Jehovah de think to guide-am. (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) E must dey ready to stop the bad things wey e de think and do. (Col. 3:7-10) The truth na say, na our faith for the sacrifice of Jesus go fit really make Jehovah forgive us and clean us from sin. Jehovah go forgive us because of that sacrifice, when e see say we de try our best to change the way we de do things.—1 John 1:7.
TRUST SAY JEHOVAH GO FORGIVE YOU
18. Wetin we don talk about the way Jehovah de forgive?
18 Make we talk small about some of the important things wey we don talk before. True-true, for heaven and earth, na Jehovah de forgive for the best way. Why we fit talk like that? Number one, e always dey ready to forgive. Number two, e know everything about us. E really know us well, and e be the best Person to see whether we don really repent. And number three, when Jehovah forgive us, e de forgive kpatakpata, and e go just see-am like say we no do the sin before. This one de make us get clean conscience and make Jehovah glad.
19. Even as we no dey perfect and go continue to sin, why we fit get joy?
19 The truth na say, as long as we no dey perfect, we go continue to sin. But the thing wey dey Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2, page 771, fit cool our heart. E say: “Jehovah de show pity and e know say e servants dey weak. So, they no need to feel sad everytime, because they no dey perfect and them de make mistakes. (Ps 103:8-14; 130:3) If them de do their best to live their life for the way God want, they fit get joy. (Php 4:4-6; 1Jo 3:19-22).” This one de really encourage us!
20. Wetin we go talk about for the next article?
20 We really dey happy say Jehovah dey ready to forgive us when we really dey sorry for the sins wey we don do. But, how we fit de forgive like Jehovah? How the way we de forgive resemble the way Jehovah de forgive, but how e different? Why e really dey important make we understand the difference? The next article go answer this questions.
SONG 45 The Things Wey I De Think
a Jehovah tell us for e Word say, e dey ready to forgive any sinner wey don repent. But sometimes, we fit de feel say we no be the kind person wey Jehovah suppose forgive. For this article, we go talk about why we fit really dey sure say our God go always dey ready to forgive us when we really dey sorry for the bad things wey we don do.
b Check the book wey the name na Draw Close to Jehovah, chap. 26, par. 9.
c WORD WEY WE EXPLAIN: “To repent” mean say person don change e mind, e don really regret the way e de live e life before, the bad things wey e do, or the thing wey e suppose do wey e no do. When person don really repent from e heart, this one de show, because e go change the way e de live e life.