Will
Jesus forgive my sins?
Will
God forgive my sins?
To
answer the question “will Jesus forgive my sins?” first, we have to understand
that people asks these questions not because they don’t know the answer to the question
primarily but rather sometimes they are not sure if they are forgiven or not… I’ll
try my best to write out an answer for you if you can be patient reading
through this blog post.
In
this article, we’ll be seeing an elaborate explanation to your question and see
the following:
- Character
of God
- The
Depravity & Condemnation of Man
- The
Great Dilemma
- God’s
Action
- Motivated
by love
- The
Cross of Christ
- The
Resurrection
- Faith
defined
- Will
God / Jesus forgive my sins?
- The
Basis of Genuine Assurance
- Test
of Biblical assurance
(1) The Character of
God
The
first question you should be asking is: “Why do I need to ask Jesus to forgive
me?”
This
brings us to the focus of some of the many characters of God.
The Holiness of God
“Your eyes are too pure
to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor.”
(Habakkuk 1:13)
In
God, there is no imperfection; there is neither sin nor anything evil. He is
separated from all things that are not perfect and nothing is equal to Him.
“But your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that
He does not hear.”
(Isaiah 59:2)
What
separates us from God is our sin. Because of sin, mankind has been separated
from God and we have no more fellowship with Him as Adam and Eve once had with
God Himself in the Garden of Eden.
The Justice of God
“For the LORD is righteous, He loves
righteousness; the upright will behold His face.”
(Psalm 11:7)
God
is also Just. What does that mean? He upholds Justice. He is righteous. He is a
Good and a Holy God.
“But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in
judgment, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.”
(Isaiah 5:16)
“God is a righteous judge, and a God who has
indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He
has bent His bow and made it ready.”
(Psalm 7:11-12)
Imagine
a Good Judge in court Judging with Justice and Righteousness the cases
presented to Him. A Good Judge will not turn a blind eye to injustice or evil,
He is not bought with mere gold or money to pardon evil-doers. He does not sweep
wicked deeds under the rug and pretends not to see it later on. He is a Good
and a Just God; and His justice must be satisfied.
(2) The Depravity &
Condemnation of Man
“For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God.”
(Romans 3:23)
God’s
standard for Himself is perfection. No sin can ever enter Heaven and come
before Him. Ask yourself there questions:
Have
you ever told a lie?
Have
you ever stolen anything? Big or small – doesn’t matter – ever steal?
Have
you ever hated anybody that you wished for them to die?
Have
you ever see another woman/man and lusted over them in your heart?
The
Bible call these things sin, it is wicked and against God’s Commandment or God’s
Standards. To be compared to God’s Standards, it is impossible for any human
being to actually achieve total holiness and not ever sin in their whole life
since birth. Even children would learn how to lie without anyone telling them
how. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
“For all of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment”
(Isaiah 64:6)
Previously, I was a Buddhist before I converted to be a Believer of Christ
If you got the time, you can read my testimony >>here<<
Man
then creates activities/ good works/ religious rituals to somehow please God.
Thinking that doing ‘certain-good-works’ would then appease God’s Heart.
Imagining themselves giving to the poor, doing good things to other people
and/or helping an old lady cross the road would merit themselves to enter
Heaven and tipping the scale of their previous evil doings or sins. Having a
self-righteous mind that keeping certain rituals would cleanse sin away from
themselves or even believing such things like Karma; there is a giant scale
that weighs good deeds and evil deeds of a person in Heaven… and to enter
heaven the good deeds must outweigh the evil deeds. To God – All these “…righteous deeds are like a filthy garment”
(Isaiah 64:6)
“For as many as are of
the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ACCURSED IS EVERYONE
WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM
THEM.”
(Galatians 3:10)
To
actually be right-with-God is to keep ALL His commandments and break none of
them. Considering that even when you are a child, you already had the tendency
to commit sin… This feat is impossible.
(3) The Great Dilemma
“He who justifies the wicked and he who
condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.”
(Proverbs 17:15)
The
great dilemma is this – if God is Just… He cannot forgive you. He must be a God
who upholds Justice and must Judge the wicked. As I have mentioned earlier, He
can’t turn a blind eye to the sins we have committed sweep it under a rug
pretending it never happened. It is against His Word and His Character.
“Far be it from You to do such a thing, to
slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are
treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal
justly?”
(Genesis 18:25)
Shall
not God deal justly?
So,
back to your question – Can Jesus forgive my sins? Let us continue with this
article. Where is our hope to attain Salvation from the Lord?
(4) God's Action
While
maintaining His holiness and justice, the Bible also affirms that God is love,
and that in love He has responded to the plight of man.
(5) Motivated by Love
“God is love. By this the love of God is
manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we
might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
(1 John 4:8-10)
God
sees our need to be saved. We were without hope in this world but God sent His
only begotten Son, Jesus Christ… The Lord Jesus Christ…
(6) The Cross of Christ
“For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His
blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the
forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration,
I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
(Romans 3:23-26)
Imagine
being in a court and facing the Good Judge before you… God declares the verdict
“GUILTY” and suddenly a Man comes and intervenes. He takes your place of
punishment and took it upon Himself all the scourging and the punishment of
your sin… He was Judged in your place… The Lord Jesus Christ was crushed,
punished and experienced the full force of God’s Wrath towards sin… yours and
mine upon the cross. God’s Justice was satisfied and he “…would be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” It’s not that our sin disappeared
to nowhere, our sin was punished… Jesus became sin for us and was crushed for
it. We who are saved are justified when we put our faith in Jesus.
(7) The Resurrection
“He who was delivered over because of our
transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
(Romans 4:25)
The
resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ proves that in Him there was no sin; and
also proved Jesus to be Who He said He was.
(8) Man's Response
Repentance
begins with a recognition and confession that what God says about us is true
that we have sinned.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is
ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in
Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You
judge.”
(Psalm 51:3-4)
A
genuine recognition of our sinfulness and guilt will also lead to genuine
sorrow, shame and even hatred for what we have done.
“For what I am doing, I do not understand;
for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing
I hate.”
(Romans 7:15)
“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free
from this body of death?”
(Romans 7:24)
Apparent
sincerity of confession alone is never definite evidence of genuine repentance.
It must be accompanied by a turning away from sin.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil.”
(Isaiah 1:16)
“therefore every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
(Matthew 3:10)
(9) Faith Defined
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen.”
(Hebrews 11:1)
“and being fully assured that what God had
promised, He was able also to perform.”
(Romans 4:21)
(8) Faith Based on The
Promises of God
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life.”
(John 3:16)
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved”
(Acts 16:31)
Simply
believe in The Lord Jesus Christ. Have faith in what he has done for your life.
(9) Example of a
Believer
“worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ
Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh”
(Philippians 3:3)
(10) The Basis of
Genuine Assurance
True
conversion: A true Christian is a new creation and will live a life that
reflects God's radical work of re-creation in his/her life.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes
are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?”
(Matthew 7:16)
Assurance
is based upon self-examination in the light of Scripture. Test yourselves to
see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this
about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5
“These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
(1 John 5:13)
(11) Test of Biblical
Assurance
How
would you know if you’re saved? I would not know truly by looking at your
picture… Who knows what’s in your heart of hearts or even your deepest thoughts.
You would have assurance and good signs will follow you as you walk with Jesus
day by day by day.
- 1
John 1:5-7 (Walking in the Light)
- 1
John 1:8-10 (Confession of Sin)
- 1
John 2:3-4 (Obedience)
- 1
John 2:9-11 (Love for the Brethren)
- 1
John 2:15-17 (Hatred for the World)
- 1
John 2:24-25(Perseverance in Doctrine)
- 1
John 3:10 (Righteousness)
- 1
John 4:13 (Spirit's Testimony)
- Hebrews
12:5-8 (Discipline)
Will
Jesus forgive your sins?
Yes.
Believe in Him. Believe in the Good News of what He has done for you on the
cross… and why…
For
He has risen from the dead and now He is reaching out to you
How
about you reach out to Him now?