I get asked more questions about sin and forgiveness than any other subjects in the Bible. “How do I know my sin is forgiven? Am I really forgiven? What if I sin and don’t repent? Do I have to confess each and every sin I commit? What if I forget one, am I doomed? ”
The grace of God has many expressions, but forgiveness is the first. Miss forgiveness and you’ll miss grace. One way to miss grace is to treat forgiveness as something other than a gift. If you work to earn what God has given, then it’s no longer grace and you’ve have made the cross of Christ of no effect. We just can’t seem to get it into our heads that God does not and did not need your permission to forgive you. That just sounds too good to be true. That’s why it is called The Good News!
Jesus told the paralyzed man in Luke 5:20, “man your sins are forgiven you”. Notice the man had not repented, he had not confessed his sins, he had not even asked for forgiveness, yet Jesus said his sins were forgiven. The scribes and Pharisees got upset about this, and they still get upset about this today. If Jesus said something or did something, there was a reason, a need for it. This paralyzed man desperately needed to hear that his sins were forgiven. This world also desperately needs to hear the good news that God has forgiven them their sins and He is not holding their sins against them.
2 Corinthians 5:19 (NKJV)
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV)
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Did Jesus take away the sin of the world or not? (John 1:29) Whose sin did Jesus take away? The sin of the world! Does the world include sinners? Yes! Then sinners are forgiven. God has reconciled the sin of the world to Himself and He is no longer recording their sins. God is not angry with them.
Sin Has Been Dealt With By God
The 10th chapter of Romans instructs us on how to be saved and the word ‘SIN’ is not even mentioned! Go to the average church and ask them how to be saved and you will be told that the first thing you need to do is to “confess your sins”. You will be told to “say the sinners prayer”. You will find that instruction in churches, but that is not in the Bible!
Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10 does not mention anything about having to confess sin in order to be forgiven or saved. Why not? Because God has already forgiven the world of their sin at the cross. The only thing Romans 10 tells us to “confess” is the Lord Jesus! Want more Bible proof? Look at the man in Acts 16 who asked the Apostle Paul how to be saved:
Acts 16:30-31 (NKJV)
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Notice Paul never mentioned the word SIN to this man? Why? Because confessing sin has nothing to do with getting saved. The church has made sin the big obstacle, yet Jesus took away the sin of the world at the Cross, the problem is most of the world don’t know it and most of the church don’t believe it. A person is not saved by confessing sin but by believing in Jesus Christ!
1 John 2:2 (NIV)
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Forgiveness does not equal Salvation
You are forgiven, but you will not experience it until you receive His forgiveness by believing that you are forgiven and trusting Jesus for your righteousness. Everyone is forgiven but not everyone believes that they are forgiven. Those who don’t believe reject the gift that God offers them. A proper response to this good news is to turn to God and put your trust in His amazing grace. This is called repentance. We don’t repent to get forgiven; we repent because we are forgiven. See Jesus sitting down at the right hand of the Father. He’s not running around cleaning up your sins. His redemption work is done, and He now invites you to enter His rest.
The New Testament warns us about the dangers of sin. Why? Not to make you doubt God’s forgiveness or grace, but to warn us of the consequences of sin. Sin grieves our Father who loves us, when we hurt ourselves or hurt others by sin, it hurts Him. But God is not holding our sins against us. Sin can hurt you, make you sick, and grieve the Holy Spirit, but one thing sin cannot do, is undo the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and cause God to UN-FORGIVE you.
It is so important that you settle this issue of forgiveness in your heart, if you don’t, you’ll spend your life in pursuit of what God has already given you. Listen to Paul preach. After the resurrection, forgiveness of sins is a done deal.
Acts 13:38-39 (NKJV)
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJV)
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
1 John 2:12 (NKJV)
12 I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
Notice your sins ARE forgiven you, not will be when you confess them.
Many people believe that when they have problems in life it is because God is angry with them for some past sin. All my life I have heard people say things like, “I had a miscarriage and I believe that God is punishing me for the way I lived in the past.” Statements like this prove that people have an incorrect view of God.
In John chapter 8 we have the account of a woman who was caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Which came first, the command to go and sin no more or the free gift of no condemnation? The church often gets this backwards, we say, “go and sin no more and you will not be condemned”. But it is the gift of no condemnation that empowers us to go and sin no more.
When you can begin to fully understand His grace, forgiveness, mercy, and unconditional love, you can know with certainty His attitude toward you is merciful—not angry. Why? Because Jesus took away the sin of the world at the cross which included your sin and mine! I can assure you that no matter what you’ve done in life or no matter how many misconceptions you have about God’s feelings toward you, and no matter what your preacher told you, God will never stop loving you. God is not mad at you because God has forgiven you your sins!
Great word Pastor, I’m so thankful for the understanding I’ve learned from you over the years. There’s nothing like the peace of Jesus that you receive from knowing the truth. Thank you again. Blessing to you and your family.
Rita