Forgiveness

This has been on my heart since 27/12/2013. I wrote this post on that date but decided to pray about posting it. Since then, various things have happened to encourage me to write it up, including the above picture on my Instagram page.

So I decided to study out forgiveness because I know that when I do something wrong, as in, it doesn’t feel right in my Spirit, sometimes when I pray and ask forgiveness I don’t feel forgiven or I feel as though there will be some kind of negative repercussion coming and often I just don’t forgive myself. And I know and have been taught that God wipes away all sin, that He blots it out but that still doesn’t bring me peace. I know as well that Satan will use that against me also, whispering in my ear the deeds I’ve done to try and increase my guilt and draw me away from Christ.
So, as the Word is my sword to ward off evil and I have my shield of faith which helps me to block the attacks by believing The Word, I need to properly study out The Word on forgiveness to encourage myself.

So what does The Word say?
Well the first scripture that brings me comfort is 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and WILL forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (emphasis mine).
Probably the best and most direct verse which tells us that He will forgive us when we confess our sin; doesn’t get more direct than that.
Acts 10:4-3 tells us that, “Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Again emphasising on the fact that we receive forgiveness from Christ by our belief in Him.

So we know that God will forgive us if we CONFESS AND BELIEVE, through Christ which is simply belief in the power of forgiveness.

So what about that guilty feeling I have, that constant reminder of my sin which sometimes stuns my growth in the Word?
Hebrews 10:22 tells us the importance of, ‘drawing near to God [with a sincere heart and assurance of faith] so that our hearts can be cleansed from a guilty conscience’. In other words, it is possible to be released from those guilty feelings, we don’t need to feel guilty because it can be removed Amen! In fact, the word tells us that it is wrong to even experience guilt for so long after we have repented, Psalms 32:5b, “I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin…”  He even forgives the guilt of our sin, our self-condemnation, how profound is that; the guilt we experience is something we also should not be feeling especially for too long.

What else does The Word say about guilty feelings and self-condemnation?
1 John 3:21, “If our hearts does not condemn us, we have confidence before God,” Which is true, when I lose that feeling of guilt, I feel more able to come to the Throne of God.
We know also from John 3:17 that Jesus did not come to condemn us either so why do we condemn ourselves? – If He is the one who is the most high judge and even he does not condemn us then why do we feel it is acceptable to condemn ourselves? Surely if anyone has that right it is only Him.
John 8, Luke 7:48 both tell of an encounter Jesus had with a woman who was caught in the act of adultery (a pretty big sin in my eyes) but what did Christ say to her after he rebuked the crowd of their own sin? He said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and from now on sin no more.”
So how much more will He say to us, His people who also sin. This is a message to all of us that Christ Himself tells us He does not condemn so we should feel free in the knowledge that neither should we condemn ourselves Romans 8:1.

So after we confess our sin, believe we are forgiven and get over our feelings of guilt and condemnation, what about the residue of sin, the feeling that it is still there, still remembered?
Well firstly we need to remember that God is love and one aspect of love according to 1 Corinthians 13:5b, “…it keeps no records of wrongs…” that tells me that our sin is not written down somewhere, ready to be brought up again to shame us or be counted against us; Psalms 32:1-2, it is in the “sea of forgetfulness”. Psalm 130:3-4 also highlights the fact that The Lord doesn’t keep a record of sins as well, but that we are forgiven and therefore our sins are not kept. David’s Psalm 103:3-14, tells us of how far our sin is removed from us in His eyes, “…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us..” – in other words, it is nowhere near us! And if that isn’t powerful enough, Isaiah 1:18 shows us of the power The Lord has to be able to transform us when we obey Him, “…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool…” He is able to purify us, by the redemption of our sins through Christ’s blood that was shed in atonement for our sins on the cross, so that we may be made pure in God’s eyes so sin should no longer have a place in our lives or have any stronghold over us and make us feel guilty or ashamed. (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:13-15; 10:12; 10:17; 10:22)
Confessing our sin, repenting of it, and accepting the gift of forgiveness The Lord is so ready to give us, is the first step. Then believing and accepting that we are and knowing that we will turn away from sin, moving forwards knowing that our past sins are forgotten gives us the freedom we have from guilt and shame. It is that belief and acceptance which allows us to be rid of that ‘feeling’ that our sin is still there. Satan will try and continually remind us of our sin but we need to remember all of this so that we can tell him: ‘no, our sins are forgiven and I will not believe your lies!’…

The importance of going over scriptures until it really sinks is so that when the enemy comes and tries to remind us of our sin, we can rebuke him with the word that we are forgiven and that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Our sins were put to death on the cross so it has no bearing on us any more – and we must believe it! (Romans 8)

N.B – According to the amplified bible, based on 2 Chronicles 7:15, we can see God’s four conditions for forgiveness:
1) To humble yourself
2) Pray asking for forgiveness
3) Seek God continually
4) Turn from sinful behaviour.

“ Have mercy on me, O GOD, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassionblot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin..” – Psalm 51:1-2

God Bless you, C x