ARE ALL OUR SINS FORGIVEN (PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE)?

I was taught that only my past sins—from the day I was born until the day I became a Christian—have been forgiven, and that my future sins are not forgiven until I confess them and seek forgiveness. I was taught that I had to be careful how I lived because if the rapture occurred right after I had sinned, I would be left behind or if I died suddenly before repenting, then I would be lost.  When were you and I actually forgiven of our sins?  Two thousand years ago, when Jesus shed His blood.  You “received” forgiveness when you believed, but your forgiveness happened when Jesus’ blood was shed.  How many of our sins were future sins when Jesus died on the cross?  ALL OF THEM!  If Jesus’ blood didn’t take away all sin, including future sins, then we are all still lost, because all our sins were future sins when He died.  So, if you are not forgiven of all sin, then you are not forgiven at all.

One of the Bible’s greatest truths is that Christ died to take away all sin–not just part of them, but all of them: past, present, and future.  He took away not just the sins of the Christians, but the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).   In (Colossians 2:13) Paul wrote, “He forgave us all our sins”. The Greek word translated “all” means each and every, any and all. That means when we are born again all our past, present, and future sins are forgiven.  The Bible says that Christ “appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).  The question is did Jesus do away with all sin or just some sin?  Jesus forgave all your sins at the cross long before you were born, long before you did anything.  It’s a simple truth, yet many believers don’t know it.

2 Peter 1:8-9 (NKJV) ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.   

Peter writes that the main reasons why Christians are unfruitful in their lives is that they have forgotten they have been cleansed from their sin problem. Their lack of knowledge of what Jesus accomplished is so limited that they are “shortsighted and blind.” They live power-less lives.  Some actually try to use this verse as a proof text that only old or past sins are forgiven.  How foolish!  The word “sins” here as in most places in the New Testament is a noun and not a verb.  It is a thing and not an action.  I love the Message translation of this verse:  2 Peter 1:9 (MSG)  Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. The use of old here is about the old man, your old life.

If you want to keep a Christian fearful, weak, and powerless, the enemy only needs to get us to believe that Jesus only forgave our past sins and that it’s up to us to maintain our forgiveness.  This myth says that God has only half-forgiven us. Don’t believe this lie, Jesus forgave us at the cross.  If you sin, you can always tell God about it without feeling condemned because you know that you already have total and complete forgiveness because of the blood of Jesus!  ALL of our sins have been forgiven. Past present and future!

Whenever I teach that all your sins have been forgiven, invariably someone will bring up (1John 1:9) as their proof text that we must confess our sins in order to be forgiven.  The reason this verse is quoted is because it is the only verse in the whole New Testament that seems to link the confession of sin with God’s forgiveness.   It is amazing how people who say you must confess your sins in order to be forgiven, will grab hold of (1John 1:9) while they ignore all the other verses in the New Testament that clearly teach that all our sins have been forgiven.  There is a clear explanation for this often-misunderstood passage.  Context is everything in the Bible.  Take a verse out of context and your left with just con.  Let’s look at this verse in context:

1 John 1:8-10 (NKJV) ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

In chapter one of 1 John, he is clearly speaking to unbelievers.  John tells us in verse 3 that he writes it to those (lost) who do not yet have fellowship with the Father or His Son Jesus Christ.  Verse nine is aimed at “sin deniers”, at people who were deceived, who say they have NO sin, they deny that sin even exist.  This is not a verse that teaches the work of Christ was not finished.  In verse eight, they say they have NO sin, they were deceived.  John was telling them that if they would confess that they had sin, they could experience God’s forgiveness and cleansing.  In verse nine he says that God would cleanse them from all unrighteousness.  This is another proof that he is talking to sinners.  The Bible never refers to the saved as unrighteous.  In verse ten, they were calling God a liar by denying that sin was real.  This is why Jesus came, to shed His blood and to take away the sin of the world.  They were saying that Jesus did not need to come because sin did not exist.  Then in chapter two of (1 John), he begins with the phrase, “My little children”.  He is addressing believers and in verse twelve of (1 John 2), he writes:

          ¹² I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.

Notice he tells them their sins are forgiven.  He doesn’t say if you will confess them.  Did Jesus cleanse us from all sin or only some sin (specifically the sin we confess).  Does He cleanse us from all unrighteousness or only some unrighteousness? Here John is unequivocal. Jesus cleanses us from “all unrighteousness” (v.9).   If you believe being forgiven by God is dependent upon your confession, then you’re believing a myth that will keep you in bondage.  But if you believe what the New Testament teaches, that all your sins have been forgiven, you will live Christ conscious and not sin conscious.  As you focus on Jesus and His grace, you can’t help but walk in faith and victory.