Hello... My Name is Forgivable

We are going to explore that in Christ we are forgivable.  From the very beginning God had the plan for forgiveness and reconciliation.   

Many times the tendency is to think that we have somehow "let God down." That we could have done something that was so horrible that even He is unable to forgive us.  Last week we even talked about thinking that we were not able to receive the gift of salvation offered in Christ because we have done the unthinkable.  And this myth is often a reason why some people will not even come to Church.  That they cannot enter a church until they get their lives in order.

But God says that there is nothing so bad that He will ever keep His love and forgiveness from you. 

Ephesians 1:4-7 (NIV): 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

God promises to forgive us.  So we are going to cover three points.

• -      We are forgivable
• -      We need to repent
• -      We get a fresh start

We are Forgivable

There is nothing so bad that we could ever do.  Remember God knows the condition of the human heart.  To claim the promise of forgiveness we need to trust God.  In Isaiah 43:25 we have a great promise from the Lord.

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

In Christ, God calls us forgivable.  God forgives sin completely.  We should direct all glory to God alone for our salvation that He vows to us through His one and only Son Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5: 18 – 19 (NIV): 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

When we believe that Christ has completed the atoning work for us on the cross and that in Him we have salvation and eternal life we claim the promise of being forgiven for our sins.

We need to Repent

We have the promise of God’s forgiveness.  There is something that we must do and that is to repent, or turn away, from the sinful life we are living and turn to God.

Acts 3:19 (NIV): 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Those who repent (turn away from their sin and turn to God) and ask for forgiveness will be forgiven. 

Psalm 51: 3-4 (NIV): 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  4Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

We first recognize that we have sinned; that we have done wrong.  All of us have sinned and need to examine our hearts for any areas that are not pleasing to God.  A time of examination is a perfect time to get right with God in any way needed.  The repentance will be characterized by a changed life and attitude, not just by sorrow or emotional feelings of regret.  Repentance requires a change in action and direction.

When we have wholeheartedly repented for our sins and we believe in our heart that Jesus Christ died and rose for the forgiveness of sins we must never doubt that we are indeed forgiven and that God has remembered no more those sins.  We cannot pick those sins up again.  What has been confessed and forgiven is not to be taken back up.  We must have fullness of faith in the forgiveness.

We Get A Fresh Start

When we are forgiven for our sins (and believe in fullness of faith) we receive absolution.  In other words, in our faith in Christ we are given a fresh start. Each day God’s mercy is new and fresh.   

1 Peter 1: 3-4 (NIV): 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

Peter reminds us in these verses that because Christ died and rose from the dead, we have been given a fresh start.  In Christ we have the promise of a new life, forgiven of our sins.  God is to be praised for saving us.  This hope of salvation is a rock solid promise of God. Our redemption and eternal life with the inheritance are guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV): 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

All of our life, both physical and spiritual, comes from God.  We are alive because of Christ.  It is all because of Jesus that we are alive.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV): 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

God has forgiven (redeemed and restored) the believer into a new way of existence.  This new life is as a person of faith in Jesus Christ who desires to live for Him alone.  When we are in Christ, when we find our identity in Christ, the old sinful nature, the sinful flesh, dies and the believer is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Ephesians 4: 22 – 24 (NIV): 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

In baptism our old sinful life is drowned and we are given a new life.  Through daily repentance we fight to keep the old sinful nature from resurfacing.