Forgiveness

Forgiveness: How Forgiven are You?

The wages of sin is death. If your sins are not forgiven, you are dead. There is no other halfway mark given in scripture--if God is counting your sin against you, you're dead. If God is not counting your sin against you, then you are alive and forgiven--your sin is removed as far as the east is from the west. How do you get to this state? You believe him when he says he paid the price for you. If you ask God to forgive you for something he said he already forgave, you are not believing what he said--you may be sad and sorry, but you are not believing God and so not acting in faith.

There is a difference between confessing your sins one to another, repentence, and asking for forgiveness from God. Confession is good for bringing sin to light so that the devil can't accuse you in the dark about it. When you admit the truth of your wrong doing to other people, you agree with God that it is wrong and take a big step in the process of repentance and the embracing of forgiveness. It's humbling and honest. It is easy to tell yourself lies inside, but when you bring your inner discussion to the community, truth bears down on you.

Let's say you sin, let's pick one: you believe that your boss is underpaying you, that he's unfair and won't pay you what you are worth so you take matters into your own hands and steal from the company. Please note that stealing is the fruit of what you believe. At the bottom of this evil act, there is a blasphemous belief that God isn't good--he won't bring you justice or provide for you so you must do it yourself. But you are a believer, trusting in Christ. When Christ died, all your sins were still in the future. He paid the full price for all of them, once and for all. When you accepted Christ as your savior, you applied that payment to your account, once and for all. No more payment will be demanded as long as you are in Christ.

So, this sin does not bring you death, it is forgiven. What does it do? Does it hamper your relationship with God? To the extent that you are falsely accusing God and not resting in the reality of his nature and care for you, yes, you are hampered. But it is not because God has something against you, it is because you are not walking in the truth. If you would be free, you don't need to make it up to God, or clean up your act. If you would be free, you must repent--bring your heart to the truth. "God loves you and will care for you." That doesn't mean you are going to suddenly feel warm and fuzzy about God taking care of you, it means you are going to act as if what is true, IS true. If God is good and going to care for you, then you can open your hand and give back what you've taken and face your consequences. It doesn't really matter how you feel about that act, it is in line with the truth, and is the essence of Faith. All the sorry sobbing in the world will not substitute for believing (acting as if its true) that God loves you and calls you His Own--and that he has fully forgiven you when you asked the first time, just as he promised he would. And that does awaken great thankfulness for the forgiveness that he gave, because we realize more and more how little we deserve.

When you come to God and pray to be his child, you ask for your sins to be forgiven. At that raw moment, you don't even know what you're asking. As we mature in Christ, we become increasingly aware of how corrupt our motives have been, how mixed we are and how desperate we are for grace. Every day we walk with God, we come more into the light and see more of what has been there all along in the shadows of our souls. And when we die, we will not have seen every recess and corner. There is no hope of enumerating our sins to God or anyone else. We are like a rotting stump, shot through with the tendrils of the mushrooms of sin--the fruit pops out here and there, but inside, the web of its roots is pervasive. If God didn't save us from this body of death, we would be without hope. We are unable to even properly ask for forgiveness--to admit each wrong attitude or action. And where would we be if we made an attempt at this? In continual self-examination, always finding new reason for self-flagulation. We are not told to spend our lives looking inward in this manner.

We are told to fix our eyes on Christ. In short, watch where you're going! Do you want to walk closer to the sin in your heart? Then focus on it. Do you want to become more like Christ? Then trust that he is creating you, has forgiven you, and keep your eyes on his holiness, love and grace. His payment was completely adequate and your work is this: believe it.

Rom 6:22-23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ps 130:3If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,O Lord, who could stand?

Rom 10:9-119 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

James 5:1616 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Rom 14:23 everything that does not come from faith is sin.

1 Peter 3:188 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Heb 9:27-28 just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Rom 8:1-21 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

John 8:31-32 Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 6:29
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."