Concerning pardoning sinners, God said to His people in Isaiah 55:6-7: "Seek
the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He
will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." God's desire is to redeem and restore sinners to fellowship with Himself, yet there are conditions to be met by those who will receive a pardon. God required His people to seek the LORD, repent of their sin, and return to God to receive mercy. God did not pardon the children of Israel because they were His chosen people He brought of out Egypt, because He was obligated to help them as their father, but out of His goodness and grace He extends to all sinners.
God had given His people the Law of Moses, and the Law outlined the sacrifices and offerings required to provide atonement for sin. Whenever there was a violation of the Law, a payment was required before God and man. God required the blood of animals for sacrifice, and the guilty were required to pay restitution to those wronged and even submit to being their servant for years to clear debts. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, to pay the price required for every sinner to be washed clean of sin and be pardoned forever. God sent His only begotten Son to be crucified and die on the cross as a sacrifice for sin so the justice of God would be fully satisfied.
What God has done in offering a pardon and everlasting life through the Gospel is infinitely more amazing than a presidential pardon of a family member: while we were sinners, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). God did not offer us the Gospel to let us off the hook for our sin, for Jesus paid it all with His shed blood. In receiving Christ by faith we are adopted into the family of God to have fellowship with Him forever. We were like orphaned street urchins who picked the pocket of a wealthy man who, when we stood to be hauled before the judge and sentenced to a life of hard labour, intervened to pay our debts and adopt us as his own children to live with him. It is not God but we who need a change of mind, to repent of our sins, knowing we are guilty and deserving of eternal wrath. 1 John 1:9 says concerning born again Christians: "If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
There are requirements God has established to be pardoned: we must humble ourselves to seek the LORD, confess our sin, and by faith in God ask for forgiveness. Asking is the law of God's kingdom, even under the new covenant. What Jesus taught in Luke 11:9-10 can be applied to forgiveness, salvation and being baptised with the Holy Spirit: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and
you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks
receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be
opened." No one deserves to be pardoned by God, but He freely offers to pardon sinners out of His love for us. God himself has paid the debt our sin justly deserved, and our gratitude for His sacrifice ought to be demonstrated in living righteously by faith in Him today.
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