The 28 Day Forgiveness Challenge — Day 7
Barbara was not happy with what she was hearing on the radio broadcast. As a matter of fact, she was downright mad!
The subject for the day was the New Covenant, and specifically, the fourth promise of the New Covenant: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary” (Hebrews 10:17, 18).
Jesus’ accomplishment, or as one writer put it, his achievement, means your sins are no longer an issue to God. They’ve been forgiven. Nothing more needs to be done.
From a human perspective, this doesn’t sound right. It seems that there must be something we need to do when we sin. This was Barbara’s issue. “When we sin,” she argued, “we are supposed to say we are sorry and ask God to forgive us.” That’s how we think. The problem is that grace doesn’t conform to our way of thinking.
There is nothing wrong in saying to God you are sorry for your sin. You can ask God to forgive each and every sin as well. However, the sorry in your heart and the confession on your lips does not bring about God’s forgiveness. If they did, forgiveness would cease to be an act of grace on God’s part.
Forgiveness of sins has already been given to every believer. Jesus already dealt with your sin. He took the punishment and forgave it once and for all. In Christ, you are a forgiven person.
Forgiveness Challenge #7 – Instead of focusing on your sin, begin to train yourself to focus on Christ’s finished work on the cross, the forgiveness of sins. When you sin, remind yourself of this verse:
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7, 8a).
I disagree that we, ” can ask God to forgive each and every sin”.
Heb 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Heb 10:27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses..
Heb 10:29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
This passage clearly states that to ask God for forgiveness is to treat the blood of Christ as an, “unholy thing.”
If someone is saved and are asking God to forgive them, it is due to an erroneous understanding as a result of false teaching. Such a person will not lose their salvation as a result of this sin, however, if they come to an understanding of the knowledge of truth, that there is no more forgiveness of sin because Jesus took it away once and for all, then they will stop treating the blood of Christ as an unholy thing.
If they do not stop, it is because they are not saved, they are not indwelt by the Spirit of God and thus cannot understand the things that come from God.
What about those that are in progress, are stopping this and that God teaching us to not do this or that by trusting God it is finished, and yet another challenge comes along, are they saved according to what you are saying I am asking this because, I know I can and prayerfully won’t sin again in future, yet if I do, I am beyond thankful I have Yeshua (Jesus) as my advocate, and you? 1John 2. Yet as many, wish to not ever sin again, they as I never wish to sin again, yet somehow find me sinning here or there from time to time, especially when I get arrogant, and need humility as in 2Cor 12
Bottom line every time I think I got it together I find I need Yeshua, as my way, my truth, and be reminded Yeshua, has by Yehweh given me new life to walk in and be as made form the beginning before the fall, yet now aware, wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove
Howard, first, I am not saying this, God is. The sinning referred to in Heb 10:26 is not believing in Jesus.
Jhn 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jhn 16:8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
Jhn 16:9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;
So, according to Jesus, sin is not believing in him.
The sins of the world, means everyone, have been dealt with once and for all. That is why the New Covenant, which went into effect at the death of Christ, declares that God remembers your sins no more.
But as Jesus told us, every sin would be forgiven but one, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Mat 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Mat 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
So, according to Jesus, not me, the only sin that was not forgiven and will never be forgiven is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that testifies about Jesus. If anyone does not believe that testimony they are blaspheming God, calling Him a liar, and they will not be forgiven that sin.
But if they accept God’s testimony then they are saved, born of the Spirit and made a child of God.
Second, everyone sins, lost and saved.
1Jo 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
So anyone that denies they sin is lying which means everyone sins. Also, John tells us that those that deny they sin do not have the truth in them. The truth is Jesus.
Jhn 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life…
If the truth is not in you then you are not saved, because Jesus is the truth and to be saved is to have Jesus in you. So lost people deny they sin, saved people do not deny they sin.
So the passages in Heb I cited are revealing those that are not saved. They do not believe in Jesus as is shown by the characteristics described in those verses.
But if you are saved, you will not trample the son of God underfoot, nor will you treat his blood as an unholy thing or insult God’s spirit of grace.
William, Thank you for posting from your view in the room surrounding Jesus and what you are seeing as truth. And truth you spoke, yet if Christ took away the sin of the world all of it as in John 1:29, John the witness to what was going to take place at the cross, :”behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the word” and when Christ gave up the Ghost, he yelled “it is finished” So he did by his death take away the sin of the world, did he not? In whose sight? Father’s or this worlds?
So unbelief Brother is not a sin, until one consciously chooses it, and it is the power of God in Spirit and truth that reveals this through Father’s disciples as on that day of Pentecost. Was it the Disciples that revealed the truth to all those in that day or God through the Disciples in the power of the same Holy Spirit of truth that led Christ?
Could they have gone out before this power from on high came? I mean they hung around Yeshua for forty days, being told the whole truth right, it has been revealed, so why did they have to wait? For not one hears the truth from another unless it is God speaking through you as in that day of Peter going into the Gentile House and preached, yet, not him. rather God the Father though him.
We as children are nothing more than the water Glass God uses to pour out pure water in Spirit and truth on to the on lookers to set them free in Spirit and truth via the resurrected Yeshua
William Thank you, we are one in Christ thanks to Christ being the way, the truth and the new life for us in Spirit and truth to live through us
Howard, there is only one truth and the truth is not that unbelief is not a sin until one consciously chooses it.
Unbelief is the sin that condemns men:
Jhn 3:18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
So according to Jesus, not me, the reason that mankind is condemned is that we do not believe in him. No one comes into this world believing in Jesus. Unbelief does not become a sin it IS THE SIN that condemns the world.
Salvation comes when we believe. When that happens, we are no longer committing the sin of unbelief. We have repented, or “changed our mind” about Jesus.
That is what the passages in Hebrews 10 are declaring, that if you come to an understanding of truth and yet continue to exhibit the characteristics described, then you do not believe in Jesus and are still condemned.
Thank you for your discussion on this matter.
Thank you for yours back as well, iron does sharpen iron. And my point in the unbelief issue is, how can one be held accountable for it unless one is made aware of it consciously? you see we all are born after the flesh fallen dead Spirit of Adam and Eve from that evil tree that got presented to Eve as good and deceived and we all here on earth are now today born after that in the flesh dead to God in Spirit and truth right?
And Christ came to do what? Give us new life in flesh or Spirit?
Per John new life in Spirit and truth, where as Flesh, steals, kills and destroys in order to survive, and has not love for their neighbor, true or false? So does one need the new life or a mix of the old as well?
will at flesh please God, outside of Christ’s?
Again if one is not or has never been made consciously aware of this truth to believe or not, by God in the spirit of God truth, then at judgment if had not made the choice to believe or not then if sent to hell and not knowing why, because they did not make the choice in truth as knowing it could not be righteous of God, could it?
I might not have said that well, I think you know what I am saying, pray so.
“And my point in the unbelief issue is, how can one be held accountable for it unless one is made aware of it consciously?”
That is your question from above. This is the answer from God.
Heb 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Notice that the verse says AFTER we have received the knowledge of truth. Many people that are saved exhibit those characteristics but it is before they have received the knowledge of truth. If they continue to sin, to demonstrate that they do not believe in Jesus, AFTER receiving the knowledge of truth then you can conclude that they are not saved because no born again child of God would trample Jesus underfoot or treat his blood as unholy or insult God’s spirit of grace.
Asking God to forgive you is to reveal that you do not believe in Jesus because he forgave all of your sins and there is o longer any forgiveness for sin according to God.
Before the day of Judgment will all have had their conscious chance to choose belief over unbelief, that all are first born with?
William, Hebrews 10:26 does not state clearly that if you ask God to forgive you are treating the blood of Jesus as an unholy thing.
I asked God to forgive my sins for years. I wasn’t treating Christ’s blood as unholy. As a matter of fact, it was the only holy thing I knew. I just didn’t know that His blood took away my sins once and for all. It was in that struggle and confusion that God brought me to the truth. Colossians 2:13, 14 were the verses that opened the way to rest and assurance. In that, I learned that God was not offended by my ignorance or deterred from His work in my life to mature my faith and bring me to the point of resting fully in Christ’s finished work.
Hey Bob,even if we had not sinned since the time when one gamete attached to the other,and we lived a perfectly sinless life,would we then have not needed the blood of Christ?If all “the little sins” spin off the “one nuclear sin of the Garden”,then does anyone who tries to determine riight from wrong,sin?After all it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.Maybe a book should be written called”Hey Bob”.