The Forgiveness God Offers
This is part 1 of a 6 part series – The Forgiveness God Offers
Do you sometimes find it difficult to believe that you have total forgiveness for your sins in Jesus Christ? Intellectually you believe it, but how about deep within your heart?
Imagine yourself in the crowd as this story takes place as recorded in the Book of Luke:
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven!”
“Who does this fellow think he is?” the Pharisees and teachers of the Law exclaimed among themselves. “This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and He replied, “Why is it blasphemy? I, the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins…I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!” (Luke 5:18-20,24, The Living Bible).
What a marvelous illustration of God’s willingness to forgive.
We Have Been Set Free
God’s holy Word tells us that Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, has set us free — free from sin, free from the Law, free from the bondage of guilt that sin and the Law bring.
Maybe you are finding it difficult to believe in your heart that your sin has been paid for. Perhaps you are thinking, “I have lustful thoughts toward another person.” Or, “I’ve been taking the Lord’s name in vain. God won’t forgive that, will He?”
The fact is, He has forgiven you. You simply need to claim His forgiveness and believe His promise. And what a promise it is:
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:11,12).
That’s the forgiveness God offers. And think of it! It became yours the moment you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior and as an act of your will received Him by faith into your life as your Lord and Master.
Next: The Greatest Relationship You Will Ever Experience
*Adapted from the Transferable Concept: How You Can Experience God’s Love And Forgiveness, by Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. © Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved.
But i believe that when we confess our sins even though we are sure that HE has forgiven us is an acknowledgement of our imperfection and to show that we humbly seek and deserve the forgiveness.
Remember we are given authority to all things on earth but not all things are good but yet still available, WHY?
So that we may be perfect and always strive for that perfection.
BH, I agree that Jesus’ sacrifice is complete payment for our sins, past, present, and future. Yet in the Word we are still told to confess for our sins (ex, James 5:16, 1 John 1:19, etc). We need to be authentic with God, and be willing to admit our sins to Him, and ask for His forgiveness.
Why bother if we know He has already forgiven us? I think the only way we CAN ask for forgiveness with true faith is when we know he will forgive, for it would truly be a scary prospect to go to God and ask for forgiveness not knowing if He will choose to forgive us or not. Confessing our sins has several purposes, but one is to humble us and cause us to admit our faults and failings, in order to encourage us to further holiness (becoming more like Jesus).
There is also a good (and short) resource on this topic available here: Why do we need to confess our sins if they have already been forgiven. Blessings!
Hebrews 10:22 reveals that Christ’s sacrifice is a once and for all offering and can make us PERFECT cf 9:14 Ephesians says we are COMPLETE IN HIM
A one and for all time transaction, agreed?
Seems to me that when we are converted ALL our sins are blotted out. ALL means every sin we have and will ever commit, agreed?
If you are agreed on these points then I need to know why then we must keep confessing our sins on a daily basis, if they are ALLready forgiven when we are converted?
I do find it difficult to believe in my heart sometimes (actually most of the time) especially when thing after thing always seems to go wrong. Always wonder deep down, if I am not good enough for His blessings and if He even likes me.