Genesis 20 looks like a re-run of Genesis 12.  Abram moved to a new country.  Verse 11 says, “I thought, this is a godless place.  They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.”

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Abram sinned in Genesis 12 when he lied about Sarai.  There were consequences.  But Abram didn’t learn from his mistake. 

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As a parent I said over and over, “How many times have I told you not to do that?”  And how many times have I read the Bible and I still fail?  Too many to count.  

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We all do.  It is pride if we don’t think we have done anything wrong.  The key to Christianity is the motive of our heart!  What do we believe in our heart?  What motivates us to do what we do?

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Simply our belief has to be in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Our motivation has to come from our belief and the love and wisdom that God pours into our heart.  There are intentional and unintentional sins.  There are things we do wrong that we don’t realize.  God continually gives people chances, maybe thousands of chances to get it right. 

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As we see in this detailed account of Abram’s life that his heart was right.  He had moments of absolute disobedience and sin, but he always repented.

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Look closely at verse 17-18.  When the event was over, Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, so they could have children.  For the Lord had caused all the women to be infertile because of what happened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

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In Psalms it tells us that “If I had not confessed my sins, the Lord would not have heard my prayer.”  Abraham repented, because we see that God heard his prayer.  Abraham did right after he did wrong.  He repented and prayed and asked God to restore what Sarah’s and his sin had caused.

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GOD IS A GOD OF GRACE AND MERCY.  IF HE WASN’T WE ALL WOULD BE STRUCK DEAD IMMEDIATELY.  NONE OF US ARE PERFECT IN GOD’S EYES.  THAT’S WHY GRACE IS SO IMPORTANT.  NONE OF US ARE PERFECT ENOUGH TO COME INTO GOD’S PRESENCE.  WE NEED A SAVIOR TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS.  GOD WILL SAVE ANY FROM THEIR SINS.  EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US MUST HUMBLY COME TO THE FOOT OF THE CROSS AND REPENT.  WE MUST BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. 

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Do you believe this principle that God will forgive anyone and everyone can go to heaven?  Do you believe that some sins are so horrendous that they exclude a person from ever entering heaven?  Or will God forgive murder as easily as he forgives a white lie?  I am not saying that the consequences to the sin are the same.  Read what I wrote.  I am just talking about God’s forgiveness!  Will He forgive all sins if we repent?  I want you to deal with this issue.  Then as you continue reading through your Bible see if your opinion lines up with Scripture.

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As hard as this is to grasp I want you to think about it.  There was the horrible shooting rampage in Tucson, AZ.  It was horrible.  The news shared a quote from the shooter that he would not trust God.  If that statement is true and if that man refused to believe in Jesus Christ, if that man would have died in the shooting he would have gone to hell.  Try to keep this simple, I am trying to get you to think about one Biblical principle only–will God forgive all sins?  This principle is hard for many to wrap their brain around.

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Now just consider this, “Could God have spared his life, even though what he did was beyond horrible, because of love?  Could God have spared his life, even though what he did was totally horrible, because he is a God of grace and a God of love?  Could God have spared his life, even though what he did was totally horrible, to give him a chance to reconsider where he will spend eternity?  Could God have spared this man’s life so that he could have another chance to repent and turn to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior?

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​Now God will punish this man!!!   This man killed and the Old Testament is clear that his penalty should be death.  The consequences to his sins are very grave!  But do you think it is possible, if this man got the death penalty, and while in prison had reconsidered his position and truly accepted Jesus Christ, that this man who did a horrible horrible thing could go to heaven?  Think about it.