Forgiveness Only In Christ

A. Introduction
Ths greatest gift of grace that God ever gave to man is the forgiveness of sins. This blessing to man costs the life of the Son of God. It is ONLY IN CHRIST JESUS that man can receive forgiveness of sins from God.

It is only through the forgiveness of sins in Christ that man can begin to enjoy the other riches of God's grace. Without the forgiveness of sin, man is lost forever in sin, death, and the fires of hell. He would never have known the joy and peace of God. He would never have enjoyed being adopted as a son of God. He would never have participated in the life of God.

B. Sin and its results

1. All wrongdoing is sin.
Anything that we do, or say, or think is against the word of God is sin.

All wrongdoing is sin.
(1 John 5:17)

Everything that does not come from faith is sin.
(Romans 14:23)

Jesus said: For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'.
(Mark 7:21-23)

2. In the eyes of God, all men have sinned.
There are no big sinners or small sinners in the sight of God. All men have sinned before God.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
(Romans 3:23)

There is no one righteous, not even one;


there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one
(Romans 3:10-12)

3. The result of sin is death, spiritual death.
Spiritual death consists of:

(i) Separation from the presence of God, both now and eternity.
(ii) Being cast into the lake of fire in the age to come.

Spiritual death also leads to sickness, poverty and physical death. God has told Adam that when he disobeyed God, he will die (Genesis 2:17).

You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely DIE.
(Genesis 2:17)

For the wages of sin is DEATH.
(Romans 6:23)

The soul that sins shall DIE.
(Ezekiel 18:4)

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolators and all liars --- their place will be in the lake of burning sulphur. This is the second DEATH.
(Revelation 21:8)

C. Forgiveness of sins is a part of the Good News of the kingdom of God.

1. When a person believes in Jesus as his Savior, all his sins are forgiven.
When a person believes in Jesus Christ as His Savior, he receives the forgiveness of all his past sins because Jesus has paid the penalty for his sins. However, he must turn to God and verbally ask God to forgive his sins. As soon as he asks God, God forgives him.

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."
(Acts 2:38)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin.
(Ephesians 1:7)

2. A Christian who sins cn also receive forgiveness from God.
A Christian is made righteous before God because of his union with Christ. However, he is still able to sin.

Whenever a Christian sins, his fellowship with God is broken. However, his fellowship with God can be restored whenever he confesses his sins and receives the cleansing of his sins by the blood of Jesus.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
(1 John 1:8-9)

Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
(Revelation 1:5)

D. Forgiveness of sins is conditional

1. All the blessings of God's kingdom are conditional.
In the beginning of our Lord's ministry, he taught the pople that God's kingdom can only be received through repentance. If a person is not willing to repent, he will not possess God's kingdom riches.

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
(Matthew 4:17)

To repent is to turn away from our own way of thinking and acting and to turn to God's way. Only in this way can we receive God's blessings.

2. To receive the forgiveness of his sins from God, a person must forgive those who have sinned against him. This is God's way.
In the Lord's prayer that our Lord taught His disciples, He taught them to pray as follow.

Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
(Matthew 6:11-12)

Immediately after that lesson on prayer, he reemphasised only one point in that prayer, that is, the forgiveness of other who have hurt us.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sin.
(Matthew 6:14-15)

E. The basic of God's forgiveness of our sins.

1. God is a God of truth and justice.
He cannot deny his word. Therefore, He must punish all sinners with death, according to his word, for "the soul that sins shall die" (Ezekil 18:4) In other words, all men deserved to die spiritually, because all men have sinned.

2. However, in his love, God has sent his Son Jesus to suffer the punishment of our sins on our behalf.
This took place as follow:

(a) On the cross, Jesus Christ carried our sins on Himself.
He suffered the punishment of our sins on the cross. He became our substitute in taking the punishment for our sins. He suffered spiritual death, which is separation from the presence of God.

But he was pierced for OUR TRANSGRESSIONS,

he was crushed for OUR INIQUITIES;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.
We are, like sheep, have gone astry,

each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the INIQUITY of us all.
(Isaiah 53:5-6)

Because of His spiritual separation from the Father when He took our sins on Himself, the Lord Jesus cried out in spiritual agony on the cross (Matthew 27:46). He was abandoned by God the Father because the sins of the world was placed on Him at the cross. The Father had to turn away because sin cannot stand in His presence (Psalm 5:4).

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani!" -- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
(Matthew 27:46)

(b)He also suffered the punishment of hell on our behalf for three days and three nights.
The Lord referred to this time in hell when He compared Himself to Jonah's three days and three nights in the belly of a big fish:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
(Matthew 12:40)

Peter indicated that the place in the heart of the earth where Jesus went to is hell, when he quoted a psalm of David, Psalm 16, and applied it to Jesus' resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:25-31).

For David speaketh concerning Him;

"I forsaw the Lord always before my face,

for He is on my right hand;
that I should not be removed.
Therefore did my heart rejoice,

and my tongue was glad;
moreover my flesh shall rest in hope;

because thou will not leave my soul IN HELL,
neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou has made known to me the ways of life;

thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."

Men and brethen, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn an oath to him, that the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left IN HELL, neither His flesh did see corruption.
(Acts 2:25-31)

3. Because of the death of Christ as a substitute for our own spiritual death, we do not have to pay the penalty of our sins if we believe in His work on the cross for us.
When we believe in Jesus, we are set free from the punishment due to our sins. As such, God can forgive our sins when we ask Him to forgive us, because of what Christ has done for us.

But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
(Hebrews 9:26)

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
(1 Peter 3:18)

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
(Romans 4:25)

F. Receiving forgiveness for our sins?

1. Confess our sins to God.
Tell God that you have sinned against Him (1 John 1:8-9). There is no point hiding them from Him. He already knows them all.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we CONFESS OUR SINS, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purity us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:8-9)

2. Ask God to forgive us.
Ask God to wash away your sins by the blood of Jesus (Matthew 6:11-12).

Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
(Matthew 6:11-12)

3. Forgive others who have hurt us.
Forgive everyone, whether dead or alive, for any hurts they have caused you in the past (Matthew 6:14-15). Tell God that you forgive them. Ask God to bless them, if they are still alive.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.
(Matthew 6:14-15)

G. What Happens to our sin after God forgive us.

When God forgive us, our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus, and God sees no more sin on us. He remembers our sins no more. In His sight, we are as white as snow, as white as wool. He sees us righteous in Christ.

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
(Isaiah 43:25)

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12)

"For I will forgive their wickedness, and will remember their sin sno more."
(Hebrews 8:12; Jeremiah 31:34)

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.
"Through your sins are like scarlet,


they shall be white as snow;
though they are red as crimson

they shall be like wool."
(Isaiah 1:18)

G. Our attitude towards past sins after God has forgive us. After God has forgiven us, we must possess a right attitude towards our past sins and the past sins of others. Otherwise we will come under self-condemnation that is false, that comes from the devil, and not from God. Our attitude must be as follow:

1. We must always accept the forgiveness of our sins by God, because God has forgiven our sin.
We must believe that all sin, no matter how big, can be washed away by the blood of Jesus. We must never take lightly the blood of Jesus.

2. We must remember our sins no more, just as God remembers them no more. Do not bring up past sins that God has forgiven, in your life or in the lives of others.

3. We are to forgive ourselves for past sins and mistakes, because God loves us and has forgiven us. We are not to condemn ourselves anymore for past sins that God has forgiven. We must no more call ourselves unclean, because we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Otherwise we are treating the blood of Jesus as of no value, that is, treating it with contempt. God does not condemn us anymore. There is no condemnation for us in Christ when we are forgiven (Romans 8:1).

4. We are to thank God continually for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, whereby Jesus shed His blood to wash away our sins.
We are to always magnify the sinless blood of Jesus, the ONLY BLOOD that has the power to wash away our sins.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessaionians 5:16-18)

In heaven, the living creatures and the elders around the throne of God magnify the blood of Jesus, forever and ever:

"You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God,

from every tribe and language and people and nation.
(Revelation 4:9)

5. We are not to allow the devil to cause us to think back on past sins that God has forgiven, and open the door to remorse, regreat and depression.
Realize that the devil is a deceiver, a liar, and a false accuser of the children of God, bring with him false condemnation (John 3:44; Revelation 12). Do not listen to him when you receive thoughts saying that God has not forgiven your sins because they are so big. Otherwise, we fill fall into vain regrets and depression. Instead, we are to resist the devil, as follows, and he will flee from us (James 4:7).

"Devil, in the mighty name of Jesus, I command you to cease in your lies and deception. I do not accept them. All my sins have been forgiven by God. They have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. God remembers my sins no more. Devil, be gone, in Jesus' Name."

6. Do not "pray over" or confess the same sin more than once, after you have confessed it to God and received His forgiveness.
Instead, begin to thank God for his mercy and love after confessing your sins.

7. For the same reasons as those given above, do not bring up the sins of others that they have repented of, and that God has forgiven. If you do so, you are being used as an instrument of the devil to bring false accusation and false condemnation to the brethren in Christ.

Your thought:

1. Why are some believers always condemning themselves for past sins that God has forgiven?

2. Why do some Christians continously bring up the past sins of others?

How would you feel if others bring up your past sins, which you have already confessed to God?