I got a letter in the mail yesterday that boldly, and graciously, proclaimed on the envelope: "You've been pre-forgiven!"
No, it wasn't sent from heaven. It was from an insurance company trying to get my business. But what a reassuring slogan that is... pre-forgiven. Very comforting.
I didn't bother to read the contents of the letter, despite the catchy presentation, but I am assuming it has to do with driving and accidents and the like.
The ad reminded me, however, of the Bible's promises that we have been forgiven. It's in the Word many times. It's why Jesus came to earth -- to die for our sins.
We are sinners by nature and only through divine intervention are we made whole. We all goof up, we all make mistakes. But there is a solution through Jesus Christ. He not only has forgiven us, he has "pre-forgiven" us.
And that's no sales pitch for insurance. It's the reality of the Christian worldview. It's God's enduring promise to his children.

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I was reading a column by Gwynne Dyer, one of my favorite pundits, who is coming to Bowling Green Feb. 25, incidentally, and the column was about Europe and religion.
The British humanists paid for an ad campaign by having huge signs displayed on double-decker buses that said "There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
They paid $288,000 to have the ads placed on 800 buses.
It's funny because, first of all, it says "probably." You'd think they'd just say flat out that there is no God. That was the original intent, Dyer reports, but the billboard company wouldn't allow it because the firm felt it would be "misleading" Christians. So they watered it down by adding "probably."
But on a more serious note, Dyer, who is based in London, offers some alarming insights into religion in Britain today.
A recent poll showed that of the 49 million people in England, 37 million said they were Christian, 7 million had no religion, 1.5 million were Muslim, 500,000 were Hindu, 329,000 were Sikhs, 260,000 were Jewish, and 390,000 identified themselves as Jedi knights -- a concerted effort by British youths to mock the polling process, according to Dyer.
But the figures are misleading because three-quarters of the population do not go to church even once a year.
On an average Sunday, 6 percent attend church.
When asked in a separate poll whether "I know God exists and I have no doubt about it," only 23.8 percent of the British respondents said they agreed.
It seems the humanists' ads are a waste of money, really, because the signs are preaching to the choir, so to speak.
On this side of the pond, oft-cited Gallup Polls routinely report each year that 94 percent of Americans believe in God.
Yet when asked the more detailed question above, only 66 percent of Americans agreed.
Religion is much more integrated into the cultural fabric in the United States than in Europe today, but it's not as strong as it used to be.
Dyer pointed out that Barack Obama recognizes this and that's why, when he was speaking of religion and naming the traditional faiths, he added "and nonbelievers."
It seems we are slowly drifting toward the European way of life and religious thinking -- inch by inch, pew by pew.
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Sylvania, Ohio
Feb. 11, 2009