As humans, we are sinful and mess up a lot. Thankfully, Christians serve a God who is faithful to forgive.
Does God always forgive? If you confess and your sins to God, He will forgive you. John 1 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” The Lord will forgive us when we come to Him openly and admit the sin we have committed.
After messing up in life again, and again, it can be easy to question if we are forgiven. This post will outline what the Bible says about God & His forgiveness.
What The Bible Says About God’s Forgiveness
When Jesus came to earth to live a perfect life like no one ever had, and then died the death we deserved, He was dying for our sins. When He rose from the grave He defeated the power of sin and death in our lives.
We still see sin and death around us, and in our own lives, but we know that we have the Holy Spirit inside us, so we can fight against sin.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:7
The forgiveness that we have in Christ is according to the riches of his grace. this means that the forgiveness that God gives us is not deserved by us, but is a gift.
When we became Christians there was a transformation, from dead in our sins to alive in Christ.
Walking as a Christian means not being a slave to sin like we were before becoming a Christian, but we know that even as a Christian we fall prey to temptation and sin.
We can be comforted by knowing that as Christians when we ask for God’s forgiveness, He will forgive us and cleanse us.
God’s amazing forgiveness does not give us the liberty to keep on sinning but instead turn from sin and become more like Christ.
When we sin we can come to God and ask for forgiveness.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15,16
When we mess up and sin, we can come to Jesus and confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. Our God sympathizes with our weakness, forgives us, and helps us when we face temptations.
As humans, we have all messed up and sinned a lot in our life, we should be so thankful for the forgiveness we receive through Christ.
When we fall into sin, our hearts should turn to the Lord, repent, and now our good God has forgiven us.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.
Psalm 103:2-4
You can read more Scriptures about forgiveness here.
Your Role In Being Forgiven By God
We know that through Christ we will be forgiven, but we also have a role to play. We need to acknowledge what we have done and confess it before God asking for forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
When we confess what we have done to God, we know because of His unchanging character that He will forgive us.
As Christians when we come before God with sin that is in our lives, we should acknowledge our wrong-doings, confess them, and repent of them.
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.
Acts 3:19
It is when we not only confess our sins but turn away that we can see God working in our life.
We should feel remorse and sorrow when we sin, sinning is going against the laws and rules that God has put in place.
You can read about more about sin in this article.
What Jesus did on the cross, means that we can be forgiven, and not based on our works and merit, but solely on Jesus.
The voice of sin is loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder.
Dwight L. Moody
Our Response To Forgiveness
The forgiveness we receive as Christians should cause us to turn away from our sins and become more like Christ.
As children of God, we are called to follow God and not the world.
We should strive daily to keep from sinning through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We represent Christ’s forgiveness as Christians by forgiving others. The forgiveness that we receive should drive us to forgive others.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14,15
When we refuse forgiveness to those who have sinned against us, we are not being an example of Christ. We cannot expect to see forgiveness in our life if we choose not to forgive others.
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Colossians 3:13
The kindness that has been shown to us through the forgiveness of our sins should compel us to forgive those who have done wrong to us.
We are being an example of Christ when we forgive those who have done wrong to us.
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
Matthew 18:21,22
Similar to God’s forgiveness in our own life as a Christian, When Peter asks Jesus how many time we have to forgive others, Jesus responded saying “seventy times seven.”
This does not mean we get to stop after 490 times, but that we should not put a limit on our forgiveness towards others.
As Christians, we can be thankful for God’s forgiveness in our life, but we also have the opportunity to then go and turn from our sins, and be an example of Christ by forgiving others.
Even when we mess up multiple times and wonder if God will still forgive us, we know that He loves us and will forgive us.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:14