Questions About Future Sins and Forgiveness?

I recently received the following question about forgiveness.  “If future sins are forgiven, why did Peter tell Simon the sorcerer to ask God to forgive him for trying to buy the apostles gift of laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit?”  Let’s read these scriptures found in Acts 8:18-24 (NKJV)
¹⁸  And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
¹⁹  saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
²⁰  But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!
²¹  You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
²²  Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
²³  For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
²⁴  Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

Before I answer this question, I want to state a few things.  Any time we read a scripture that seems at first glance to contradict other scriptures, we need to question our understanding of that one passage and not allow our misunderstanding to cause us to question the clear revelation of many other scriptures.  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?

Was Simon Truly Born-Again?

Some would say that Simon was saved because Acts 8:13 says, he believed and was baptized.  We must remember that this man was a practicing sorcerer and verse 13 says, he was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs that were done by Phillip.  Now, I suggest to you that Simon’s motive for becoming a “believer” was not because he saw his sin and need of a savior, but rather he saw power and wanted it for himself.  He was not really a Christian despite that term, believed.  Notice, Peter says, “Your money perishes with you.” He says the money is going to perish; you’re going to perish with it. True believers don’t perish.   And secondly, he says, “Your heart is not right with God.” Verse 22, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.  Peter goes on to say, “you are poisoned by bitterness and bond by iniquity.”  Thirdly, Peter calls upon him to repent.  If you go through the Book of Acts, and look up the term repentance, which occurs many times, you will find that it’s always used of individuals who are unsaved.

And when, finally, Peter says to him, “You ought to pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you,” what does Simon do?  He says, “Pray to the Lord for me,” verse 24.  In other words, he’s a person who doesn’t have a first-hand relationship with the Lord; and he knows it.  “Peter, you pray for me.”  Peter, in Acts 15:9, talking about salvation of the Gentiles said that God had “purified their hearts by faith.”  Simon didn’t have any faith.  He didn’t have a purified heart.  His heart was not “right with God”.  This is the reason Peter spoke the way he did to Simon.  It was not God saying, you better ask Me to forgive you or I won’t.  It was not God saying, if you fail to confess even one of your sins to Me, then I’m mad with you, I won’t answer your prayers, and you will miss heaven.  God has forgiven the world of sin, even Simon’s sin.  Peter was angry and upset with Simon’s failure to understand and believe that salvation is a GIFT to be received, not something that could be purchased with money.

Maybe we are missing the point of this story in the Bible?  Simon’s failure was a failure of the heart.  He had believed, that is, he had acknowledged the outward truth of the things that Philip had preached.  He had been baptized in water and yet he was not born-again.  Maybe this story should be a warning to people who are trusting in ceremony, trusting in tradition, trusting in your confirmation, trusting in your baptism, trusting in your church membership, and not trusting in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You need to understand that there is a huge difference between what God has done and how we respond to what God has done.  Most Christians just won’t let the Bible get in the way of their theology.  Religious traditions and wrong teaching have become the basis of their beliefs, rather than the Bible.

Sin consciousness has been ground into us.  Grace is not the way of the world.  Your employer doesn’t hire you by grace and promise to pay you no matter what you do; they have expectations of performance.  In marriage, spouses don’t always love each other unconditionally.  Even in Christian families, children are either rewarded or punished based on their performance.  In this earth almost, everything is based on performance, and because it is, it always forces us to focus on our weaknesses.  That performance mentality then transfers into religion where we’re taught to focus on our sin.  However, where God is concerned, it’s just the opposite.  In fact, sin isn’t even an issue with God.  Why? Because our sin is not being imputed, or charged, to our account. It’s being charged to Jesus’ account, and He already paid the bill.  Praise God, He isn’t giving you what you deserve; He is giving you what Jesus deserves.  Jesus paid for sin one time, past, present, and even the sins you will commit in the future.

The gift that Needs to be Received

At the cross, the sins of the world were sent away. This is what forgiveness literally means: to send away. Our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west and God is not counting men’s sins against them (2 Cor 5:19).  This is why the Risen Lord said we are to proclaim forgiveness as a done deal, rather than sell it as a favor to be earned.  Forgiveness is a gift that needs to be received (Acts 26:18) and in Him we have it (Eph 1:7, Col 1:14).

Although the sins of the world were taken away at the cross, people still carry their sins.  They are crippled by their sins and sinning gives the devil the opportunity to accuse them mercilessly.  Many remain slaves to sin.  The only thing that can free them and empower them to sin no more is a revelation of God’s grace.  From God’s side, forgiveness is a done deal.  There are no more sacrifices for sin.  But from our side sin may be a very serious problem indeed.  So why do you need to receive the gift of forgiveness if you are already forgiven?  For the same reason you need to receive the grace of God that has appeared to all men – it will change you.  It will free you from guilt and condemnation.  It is not enough that God has forgiven you.  Grace unmixed with faith is worthless.  You must receive it. You must quit beating yourself up over your sin and start trusting Jesus and His perfect work on the cross