This is what my dear friend Abdullah asked me the other day over tea and dates.

Abdullah asked me, “Andy, in your religion what does it take to be forgiven?” “Abdullah, let me ask you, what do you think it takes for God to forgive us?” Without hesitation Abdullah responded, “God’s mercy!” I then asked, “Is that all, just God’s mercy?” Abdullah thought and said, “Yes, but God only shows mercy if we deserve it.”

I responded and said, “Abdullah, it’s so easy to think that in order for a merciful God to forgive, He only has to show us mercy” He said, “Yes, that’s true.” So I added, “But Abdullah, for God to forgive us requires so much more than just mercy.” My comment provoked him to ask, “Andy! What else but mercy would God have required for us to be forgiven?”

“Abdullah, the Bible teaches us that in order for God to show us mercy and forgive us He had to redeem us? Abdullah heard that and stopped chewing on his date long enough to ask, “What does it mean to be redeemed?”

“Abdullah, let me answer that by talking about what we both agree on about God. We agree that God is completely holy and pure, and that in His essence He has no hint of sin or evil.” Abdullah said, “Yes, I totally agree with that.” I continued, “Let me add, this means that God cannot co-exist or live with sinners; He is to pure and to holy for that. But, God wants to live with us in relational intimacy, both now and for all eternity.”

Abdullah seemed confused and asked me, “How do you know that God wants to live with us in relational intimacy?” I said, “Abdullah think about the creation story. God created mankind without sin and put Adam and Eve in a sinless paradise where they were able to co-exist with God. We know that Adam and Eve did live in relational intimacy with God until they sinned. This shows us that God wants us to live with Him forever, but because of His holiness we can only live with Him if we are without sin.”

Abdullah agreed with the first part, but seemed somewhat confused by me saying “God wants us to live with Him in relational intimacy forever.” He thought about that and said, “As Muslims we are taught that if we are good enough we can obtain paradise, but for most Muslims, we will not co-inhabit with God in eternity. Only the very righteous will live with God.”

To this I said, “Abdullah, the Bible teaches us that God created us so we may live with Him, not just go to paradise. I’ll say again, God desires that we live with Him, now and for eternity, in relational intimacy. So, Abdullah, let me ask you, what do you think keeps us from living in relational intimacy with God?” He heard that question, poured more tea as he thought about the answer and then said, “I guess I would say, our sin.”

Excitedly I said, “Yes! Abdullah, our sin keeps us from a holy God. The Bible teaches that we all sin, because we are all sinners. We sin every day. King David said in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Abdullah, we all sin because we have inherited the sin nature, passed down to from Adam, the first man.

Abdullah asked me, “What do you mean when you say we inherited our sin nature from Adam, who committed the first sin?” “My dear friend, I’ll explain this by quoting Romans 5:12 which says,  “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 “

Abdullah seemed to understand, so I continued telling him, “Romans 5:12 explains our sin is the reason everyone dies, and because we sin every day there is nothing we can do to overcome our sin nature and be worthy to live with God in paradise forever.”

Abdullah then asked me, “If we can never overcome our sin, then how can we be forgiven?” “My dear Abdullah, the only way we could ever overcome our sin problem, is if a holy and sinless God would overcome it for us. And this is exactly what God did for us.” Abdullah seemed perplexed and asked, “How did God overcome our sin problem? Andy, I really want to know, I try so hard to please God, but in my heart I know I sin every day?”

“O Abdullah, I too sin every day. We all do. Sadly we will sin every day of our lives until we die.” “O Andy, this is true, so what did God do for us to help us overcome our sin?” “Abdullah, David says in Psalm 103:4 that God  ‘redeems your life from the pit…’ The word “pit” signifies death and separation from God. So this verse is telling us that God overcame our sin problem by redeeming us. Abdullah said, “Andy, what does ‘redeem’ mean?” 

“Abdullah, the word ‘redeems’ here means to ‘Buy back from bondage or slavery.’ In biblical times, slaves were bought and sold at the slave market. Some people would buy them in order to set them free as an act of mercy. This is what redemption signifies. In Psalm 103:4 David is saying that God purchased or bought us back from the sin that enslaves us.” Abdullah then asked, “What do you mean when you say our sin enslaves us?” Abdullah, Jesus explains this when he said, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” John 8:34 If you don’t think  you are a slave to sin, then see how long you can go without sinning.” We both laughed at that.

Then Abdullah got serious and said, “Andy, if God has already redeemed me, then am I forgiven, and will go to paradise with God? Is this what you are saying?” “Abdullah, you are asking the most important question for all eternity. I concluded, “My dear brother, God has already paid the price to redeem you.” Abdullah asked, “How did God do that? How does God redeem us?”

“My dear Abdullah, I’ll tell you why God redeems us, then I’ll explain how. He was excited and said, “OK, great.” “Abdullah, why God redeemed us is because He loves us so much. How God redeemed us was by sending the only sacrifice for our sins that He would accept. A holy and sinless God could only accept a holy and perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sin.”

Adullah was listening carefully, so I continued, “Sinless Jesus came to pay the price of all our sin. God accepted Jesus’ death as full and complete payment for our sin. Our sin has been paid in full, and  so now we can be redeemed by God and receive complete forgiveness and eternal life.”

Abdullah said, “So how can I be forgiven?” “Abdullah, John 3:16 explains how we can obtain this eternal life offered through God’s redemption. This verse says, “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.” John 3:16

Abdullah finally said, “Andy, I don’t fully understand, but I want too.” “Abdullah, this is what I pray for you.”