We Are Freely Loved

In the prophecy of Hosea we move from a story of the moral and spiritual failure in the Northern Kingdom, till in the last chapter we see a note of great hope for the future for those people who are prepared to listen and learn. In verse 4 of chapter 14 we read where God says - "I will heal there backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him."

God's anger had been justified, but His expression of love foretells of a remedy for moral and spiritual chaos. For us today, to whom might this remedy refer? Why, surely, it must refer to sinners coming to faith in Jesus Christ; to those who repent of their sinful ways and return to the God who, as He says, "will love them freely."