Jesus promised His followers that they would have life, and that life would be an abundant life. In order to have that kind of life, we need a new beginning.

The Bible tells us that Jesus didn't die for us after we worked really hard to clean ourselves up in order to make ourselves worthy to come into His presence. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. That is how we know how much He loves us!

The sixth gate of the City of God is named after Dan, whose name means "judge." This gate reminds us that Jesus is our righteous Judge. That's bad news if you're a sinner, but great news if your sins have been forgiven.

Jesus consistently taught that it was vital for His followers to forgive others when they were hurt or offended. In fact, He said that if we don't forgive those who sin against us, then our Father in heaven won't forgive our sins. When we understand the debt we've been forgiven, then we can turn around and offer that forgiveness to the people around us - no matter what they've done.