God NEVER Forgave You

English definitions of the word forgive:
To let go of anger or ill feelings against; To cease to blame or hold ill feelings against

That is what most view God's forgiveness as, God was angry at you but Jesus made it so the Father would accept your apology by suffering under the Father's anger in your place. If what we needed was forgiveness then that means God was the one causing the problem. He refused to forgive us unless He was appeased by a sacrifice. I don't have to do anything to be forgiven, it is the forgiver that does all of that. If forgiveness is what I needed why did Jesus go through all the pain & suffering if He could have just decided to forgive me? If God is love & love keeps no record of wrongs why does God have to forgive me? If God has to forgive us that means He is unloving because He chose to hold things against us in the first place. But friends, this is not what the word "forgive" means in the Old or New Testament.

Excerpted from the Ancient Hebrew Research Center Website:  "From a Hebraic perspective, the forgiveness of sins is the same as lifting sin off and removing it just as we see in Micah 7:19, 'You will tread our iniquities under foot & You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.'"

What has been mistranslated as "God's forgiveness" actually means that God takes hold of your sin, lifts it off of you, & takes it away. Translating the Hebrew pictographs we get this meaning, "Sin has grabbed you. The Father pulls sin off of you & out of you then yokes you with Himself."

The issue was never any of these things, Our sin offends God, We fail to meet God's holy standard, etc. Sin was never about God vs. man. It was about sin vs. man. Man loses & is dying. God comes to man offering to give Him eternal life & protection from sin. Sin is the problem, sin is the crushing burden that we need removed. We never needed God to forgive us. God loves the world & love does not take an account of wrongs suffered. The gospel of forgiveness is anti-gospel. It starts off with the bad news of "God has a problem with you" instead of the good news that God wants to solve your problems through loving you.

On the cross God wasn't getting rid of His list of your sins, He was getting rid of Sin's (Satan's) list of your sins. He was removing all cause for accusation against us. When you first trust in Him God removes the spiritual burden & condition of your sins off of you. I felt intense burden before I was saved & when I was saved I immediately felt lighter because He removed my sin. That is what 1 John 1:9 talks about. It refers exclusively to entrance into salvation but because the English word "forgive" has been placed in there people have thought & taught that it means we must continually "ask God to forgive us." How can someone who doesn't hold anything against you to begin with forgive you? He can't because HE LOVES YOU TOO MUCH TO LET ANYTHING COME BETWEEN YOU! He will take your burdens, He has taken your burden, He has taken your bullet.

For those of us born after the cross the truth is GOD NEVER FORGAVE YOU because He never held anything against you in the first place.

"If you kept a record of sins, Lord, who could ever stand? But You lift us up out of sin & we stand in awe of you for it." (Psalm 130:3-4)


I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!

1 John 1 in Light of the Gospel of John

The word "forgive" in the bible does not picture a meaning of "God was mad at you but you apologized so He decided to stop being mad at you & stop holding what you did against you." The word "forgive" actually means to "take away, carry off, remove the burden, to free, to deliver."

1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." But look at the gospel of John, Jesus Himself talks about it being possible for people to "have no sin."

John 9:39-41 "Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains."

"Having none" is the opposite of "remains" in this verse. How do you stop something from remaining? You take it away. So Jesus makes those who were blind see. What do they see? Their sins taken away by Jesus to where they, in Jesus' own words, "have no sin." So Jesus says those who see by the miracle of sight (righteousness) that He gives "have no sin," yet those who see on their own (by self-righteousness) have "their sin remain." "Seeing" in reality means you have no sin because you saw Jesus, trusted Him, & He took your sin away (forgave you). But claiming to see while actually being blind, as the Pharisees did, means to "say you have no sin" by self-righteous practice or doctrine instead of by Jesus taking your sin away.

Remember John wrote the gospel of John & the letter of 1 John. He wrote down John 9 & knew what Jesus had said there when writing 1 John 1:8. So who then is 1 John 1:8 talking to? Those unsaved people who claim that they see on their own, they claim they "have no sin" apart from the work of Jesus. 1 John 1:9 then says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us (taking away) our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness." To confess sins isn't to recite & recount them but to agree that you (an unsaved person) have them unless God takes them away from you.

1 John 1:5b-10 is John recounting what he calls in 5a, "the gospel message we have heard from Jesus and announce to you." Because he was recounting it John was writing with inclusive language on how to be saved (using "we" & "us"). John wasn't writing this to Christians to get them to make commitments about confession but to give them confidence in the outcome (sins taken away & cleansed of all unrighteousness) of the only confession of sins they ever needed to make. This becomes even more evident when we look at the end of the letter (v5:13) where John says he wrote the letter so that those who trust in Jesus "may know that they have eternal life." What better way to help them know they have eternal life than to start off talking about how we receive eternal life in the first place?

In v2:21 John says he also wrote the letter "concerning those who are trying to deceive you." Those people (known as the Gnostics) were trying to say that there was no sin to be taken away from people in the first place. John also wrote chapter 1 so that if there was anyone among them who "does sin" v2:1 they can know how to take the cure so that they "may not sin" anymore by getting "born of God" into a Spirit & identity that v3:9 says "is not able to sin."

The gospel of John helps us interpret the letters of John. We can see him expounding upon what Jesus said as recorded in his gospel. Jesus said it is possible for people to "have no sin" if they trust Him to give them sight, to give them righteousness. Christian Jesus has taken your sins away "as far as east is from the west" so if we Christians "say we have no sin" it is because Jesus has taken it away from us (if it is away you don't have it anymore) & cleansed our spirits of all unrighteousness. If He cleansed it all that means there is no unrighteous desires left in our spirits to produce future sin so John says in V3:9, "your born of God spirit cannot produce sin, it is not able to sin." "Walk by the spirit & you won't carry out the unrighteous desires of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The flesh is no longer a part of who they are (Galatians 5:16,24).

"The flesh counts for nothing, what counts is the new creation, the spirit that gives life. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit & life. You have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, through the living & enduring word of God. You yourselves are My words, My letter, written on My heart. Clearly, you are a letter from Me. You are not written with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. You are not carved on tablets of stone but on the tablet of My own heart."
(John 6:63, Galatians 6:15, 1 Peter 1:23, 2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

John 20:23 - Could The Apostles Forgive Sins?

Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:22-23)

Forgive in the bible is often a poor translation because it does not mean, "stop holding something against someone." The word forgive actually means "release/set free" or "remove/take away." "If you release anyone of his sins, he is set free from them; if you do not release them, he is not set free from them."

This is speaking about the freedom that the gospel brings. If the disciples, through the power of the Spirit, told people the good news of what Christ has done those people were set free from sin. If they did not tell people of what Christ has done those people will not experience the freedom He has provided.

Hearing & trusting in the gospel is what sets people free from sin! Jesus wasn't giving His disciples permission to save some & condemn others. He wasn't giving them the ability to override people's freewill, Jesus didn't even do that. He was telling them of the effective reality of the gospel. If they suppress the Spirit, the freedom it could bring through them is also negated. I think Paul echos Jesus' statement in Romans 10:13-15,

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how can they call on him to save them unless they trust in him? And how can they trust in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"

So Jesus' words in John are like another form of the great commission. He is essentially saying, "You have been given the power of the truth that frees people from sin. If you don't tell them they cannot be freed. Don't hold back!" This is why we don't see the disciples going around "forgiving people of sins" or setting up confessional booths but we do see them proclaim the good news. The good news is that Christ has already provided freedom from sins (forgiveness of sins). The freedom is there but the knowledge of the truth is required for people to "be set free." Christ took away the sins of the world. Once people know that they are already released from sin they are freed up to see God & to trust Him.

"If you send away the sins of any their sins have been sent away from them. If you hold the sins of any, they have been retained." What this means is the disciples had the ability to lift burdens or leave burdens. "If you release anyone of his sins, he is set free from them" in other words, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed." The freedom is irrevocable.

The Good News

"If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law." (Galatians 3:21)
People say that the reason people aren't saved is because they aren't acceptable to God because they fall short of God's standard of holiness, referring to the law. But this tells us that even if you kept all of the law all of the time your whole life you still would die because obedience to the law could never give life. You see mankind's problem is the condition of sin, not the actions of sin. The disease of sin leads to death. Mankind got infected by sin.

God only held people's actions against them under the law to help people become aware of their disease so it would not kill them sooner. God didn't hide from Adam & Eve when they sinned, Adam & Eve hid from God. Sin was never about you being "unworthy" in God's eyes to approach God. Sin was about you being too shame-filled to see God & too sick to make it in the next life & dying forever as a result. The God of life wasn't sitting in heaven too stubborn to forgive impure people. He was doing everything He could to preserve them. It was never about God holding our actions against us. How do we know that? Because Jesus doesn't hold anything against us when offering us the cure for sin.

In the New Testament to "be saved" means to "be cured." Jesus took our disease (sin) on the cross & became the cure. He was injected with our sin to bring about the antidote because He was the only one who had immunity to it. We've been taught that "our sin killed Jesus" & that we should feel really bad about that. But neither is true. Jesus said He would willingly lay down His life. We saw this happen on the cross when Jesus willingly announced the giving up of His Spirit from His body & breathed His last. Jesus defeated sin on the cross. Jesus did not die because sin had the power to kill Him. He died so that He could raise again to life to defeat death. He broke the power of sin & death, sin on the cross, death while coming out of the grave.

If the reason we face death is because God holds our actions against us why would Jesus suffer so intensely & die? If God was just saving us from Himself, instead of suffering He could have just saved Himself the trouble & changed His mind to choose to forgive us. The word forgive in the bible is a poor translation. The word in the bible does not mean "stop being offended" as the English word forgive does. It actually means "to take away." So in today's sense of the word forgive, God never forgave a single person living today. We were all born after the law ended & after the cure had been introduced. God has never counted a single sin against us, blamed us, or been mad at us. God took away our sins on the cross meaning He took away the spiritual barrier that sin created between mankind & God. He also took away the law which charged us with sin. Only by trusting in Him do we take the cure. Taking the cure of Christ makes God able to take away our burden of sin (guilt/shame) & the condition of sin from our spirit which cleanses us from all unrighteousness by giving us a new eternally living spirit that is united with God.


Related Posts
Lifted Up to His Glory:  Talks about how "falling short of God's glory" doesn't picture falling short of some kind of standard.

Yoked or Unyoked is The Issue of Mankind

Hebrew letters started as pictographs where each letter was a picture. Those pictures can give us insight into what Hebrew words mean.
The Hebrew word for "sin" consists of 3 letters with meanings of separate, clay, & yoke.

The word sin hides this message about what the spiritual condition of sin is:  "Man separated from the yoke of Christ"

This was amazing enough & such a dead on picture. But then I took the Hebrew word that is often translated as "forgive." It consists of 3 letters with meanings of life, two, & yoke. So when the bible talks of someone who is forgiven it pictures "The life of two in a yoke." You & Christ yoked together.

Those hidden meanings then make this scripture a HUGE focal point.

"Come to me, all you who are tired & burdened heavily, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is pleasant and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

So this saying of Jesus is perhaps the greatest picture of salvation & a relationship with God in all of eternity.

What does Jesus give?
Rest
Wisdom
Pleasantness/Ease

How does Jesus treat you?
With gentleness & humility

Where have you heard God pictured like this?
He walks & works with you while directly teaching you in a relationship.
He treats you with gentleness & humility, He isn't demanding or harsh.
What He wants you to have most as He lives with you is rest, wisdom, & ease.

This is mind-blowing to me, that the very Hebrew words behind sin & forgive point to this precise saying of Jesus & the beauty of what Jesus describes a relationship with God is like. And let me tell you, it is exactly as He described. If you aren't experiencing God as Jesus described it isn't because you are doing things wrong. It is because you are believing the wrong things about God. Believe Jesus' testimony about Himself. If you think God has treated you without gentleness & without humility you've mislabeled something else as God (probably your own sense of shame). Jesus gives you the rest of having a love relationship with Him. To be yoked with Jesus means He says to you, "We are yoked together but I will pull the weight and carry the burden."


Related Posts
Walking Under the Yoke of Jesus

Forgiven and Loving

Jesus said, "He who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47).
Most take this to mean, "The worse of a sinner you were before you came to Christ the more you will love God because he forgave you of so much sin." That may be true but let us look at this another way.

The truth is we have all been totally forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future. If you think you must continue to ask for forgiveness (confess your sins, repent, etc.) then you will love little. You will love little because you will see God's love and forgiveness as conditional to your recounting of sins (how most incorrectly view confession) or promise to try hard to not do particular sins again (how most incorrectly view repentance). Whether you realize it or not those are conditions many put on forgiveness and fellowship which are in reality two things Jesus earned for you eternally. If you think God's perfect love is conditional then you will only love conditionally also. You will judge people harshly based on their behavior and I'm sure all of you know some religious person who does so.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9).
The word "confess" in 1 John 1:9 does not mean recount (recall & recite in prayer) but it actually means "to agree." It is to agree with God about your sins, that you had them and Christ took care of them. If you agree with God that Christ took your sins away, which He did, then you have no reason to recount them. Doing so would actually be the opposite of what John intended when writing this scripture. 1 John 1:9 simply means, "You receive His forgiveness by believing His forgiveness." It is not a rule for daily relationship. It is praising God that Christ finished the work of forgiveness on the cross and saying, "I want in on this!" And it is continuing to agree with and rejoice over Christ's finished work on our behalf!

The word "repent" by itself has nothing to do with sin. It does not mean "turn from sin" in the New Testament. It is a mistranslation that really means "to change your mind about something." We find no commands for Christians to frequently repent. No one was ever even asked to do it twice! Contextually repent almost always means "to change your mind from mistrust/unbelief to trust/faith in Jesus," in other words "get saved." Jesus also specifically says not to make promises to God (Matthew 5:33-37). Jesus recommends we respond to God in time with an honest ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ We aren't to live by the promises we make to God but the promises He has made to us.

Sadly Christians everywhere have been taught to live the opposite of what God desires, that which is best for them. To ask for what they already have, earn what has already been paid for, and promise to try harder to do better. All of this devalues the love of Christ because it says He didn't do or completely do the things He did for us. If we think we have to do something to continue to get God's favor, forgiveness, and fellowship then we will make others earn ours as well. We will live in the imprisonment of believing one of the worst lies ever told.

No one was forgiven little on the cross. Everyone was forgiven of all sin for all time. He who understands God's forgiveness little understands God's love little and loves little. He who understands God's total forgiveness is free to love totally; heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Reconciliation Now! The Good News of Reconciliation

God the Father was in Christ on the cross, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

We have reconciliation available now. God reconciled the world to Himself no longer counting people's sins against them. The gospel isn't primarily about heaven and hell. It is not about law or your failure to keep the law. The good news is that sins & all barriers between us and God are taken away. The gospel is about relationship. Jesus said "This is eternal life, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." Eternal life isn't about a destination, though it includes one. Eternal life is an intimate and everlasting relationship with the person of God. The good news is this, that I can know God and be known by Him!!

What is Reconciliation?
Reconcile means to restore relations. The word is used in scripture in regard to the fact that in the garden of Eden people did have a close relationship with God. God in Christ restored the availability of relationship by taking away the sins of the world so there is no barrier between God and man. People just need to engage God with trust and they will get to know the amazing God He is. Reconciliation in the broad sense is God lifting mankind up from the fall to where they are free to relate to God again. So today reconciliation refers to God making relationship with Himself available to all.

Jesus is said to be the "propitiation" for our sins. That means His sacrifice removed the animosity God would have towards people for their behavior. He no longer counts sins against people. If we ever doubt the magnitude of God's generous and forgiving love for us we need only to look to the cross.

What Does it Mean to "Repent and Believe?"
The word repent means "to change your mind." The word believe in the bible means "to trust" or "to entrust." This is not a call to change behavior as is so often taught. It is a call to "Forget about what you thought you knew about God, the rule keeping & the rituals. God has revealed Himself fully through His Son Jesus the Christ. He died to take away the sins of the world. He is risen. He is alive now. Trust this risen Jesus, entrust yourself to Him. Nothing stands between you and Him. Nothing stands between you and God. He has already opened His arms to you on the cross as an everlasting invitation to embrace Him."

The following is a reason why changing your mind (repentance) is a part of salvation. "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil deeds" (Colossians 1:21). We thought we were enemies of God in our minds because of our evil deeds. Once we come to know the peace God has made with us through the death (blood) of Jesus we realize that God does not call us enemies but longs to know us as friends. Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1:1) and our living peace (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus is the living peace treaty of God. If we accept the living peace treaty of God's Son we become God's children and God's friends.

The Incredible Father
God is the Father in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). God the Father is constantly waiting for you to come to Him. The moment He sees you He runs to you filled with love and compassion and throws His arms around you, hugging you and kissing you. His forgiveness is so great that He ignores your sins even when you bring them up to Him. He cares only to celebrate that you are now with Him. When we are lost we have it even better than the sons in this story because Jesus goes out to find us to bring us to the Father.

Reconciled to God Forever
Jesus said in John 6:37 "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." That is a true "never" for all who come to Him. Whenever you do something that you think comes between you and God it certainly does not. God NEVER drives you away once you come to Him. He does not count your sins against you, ever (2 Corinthians 5:19). He does not consider them. He does not take them into account. His perfect love makes it so you are never punished by Him (see 1 John 4:18). You have no need to fear. Allow His peace to take control of your heart (Colossians 3:15).

Summary
God is reconciled to all mankind.
    He has overcome any animosity He could have towards mankind by judging the world's sins in the body of Jesus
    He offers His friendship to all.
    His love, peace, favor, grace, & goodwill is extending to all.
    He forgave everyone and wants them to know it
   
God wants all people to be reconciled to Him.
    To know the peace He has made with us through the death of Jesus.
    To become aware of the good things He has done for us.
    To become aware of the good things He offers to us.
    To change our minds from distrust to trust.
    To accept all He longs to give us.

Additional Scriptures
The favor of God has appeared with salvation for all people (Titus 2:11)

Mankind treated God as an enemy yet God reconciled all men to Himself through the death of His Son. Since mankind is reconciled to God by His death people will abundantly be saved, cured, & made whole by his life. (Romans 5:10)

God has restored our relationship with himself through Christ, and has given us this task of restoring relationships. God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, GWT)

Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him take our sin in order that in union with him we might receive the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19,21 GNB)

We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received relationship with God! (Romans 5:11)

My Paraphrase from 2 Corinthians 5-6
God the Father was in Jesus Christ on the cross making relationship with Himself available to the world by no longer counting people's sins against them. Christ died for all. God has given us this message of relationship to tell others. We speak on behalf of Christ when we plead, “Come to God!” Christ never sinned, but God made Him become sin for all so that all could be made right with God through trusting Christ and become the righteousness of God in Him.

God says to all, “At just the right time, I hear you. On the day of salvation, I help you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the right time to call out to God. Today is the right day to be helped. Do not put it off.

By knowledge, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love, by truthful teaching, & by the power of God we tell these things to all.

We work together with Christ and we implore all who receive Christ,
"Please don't ignore one bit of this marvelous life of love & kindness God gives. From now on regard no one according to the flesh. All who are in Christ are new creatures, the old has died, and a new living spirit has been received! All of these things are gifts from God:  His Son, your freedom from sin, your freedom from being charged with sin, your being made right with God, your salvation, your relationship with God, His love, His favor, His grace, His kindness, His righteousness, & your new spirit that is born of God. He brought us to Himself through Christ. Christ died for all so that we who have living spirits no longer live alone but with Him who died for us and rose again. The love of Christ surrounds us!"

What is the Remission of Sins?

Jesus's blood was shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28).

"Remission of sins" means:
 • His blood was shed as a payment for our sins
 • Forgiveness of sins as if they had never been committed
 • Pardon of sins as if they had never been committed
 • Release from bondage to sin
 • Release from imprisonment to sin
 • Release from the penalty of sin
 • Release from the debt of sin
 • Cancellation of the debt of sin
 • Deliverance from sin
 • Freedom from sin
 • Christ takes people out of sin, He takes it away from them, and then places those who trust Him in Himself

Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Now you have been united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:13)

Forgivenness

God in His foresight has already forgiven you of all of your sins (Colossians 2:13). Jesus made it to where you cannot damage your standing or relationship with Him on His side.

God does not count sins against you (2 Corinthians 5:19). So He doesn't want you to live as though He does. Because He is not counting sins against you it is not good for you to count things against yourself. God wants us to come to Him with our struggles but He also knows that focusing on past destructive actions does not better us. I used to go and confess lusts and it would bring the lusts back into my head and body. It is better for us not to be conscious of sin (Hebrews 10:1-2). We're told in Romans 6:11 to consider ourselves dead to sin. Why? Because we are. We are dead to sin (Romans 6:2). Dead men don't react, confess, or turn. God doesn't want us to live a lie or to pretend. He wants us to join Him in reality and what a wonderful reality He has provided for us in Jesus!

Our relationship with God is superior to our relationships with others because God is perfectly & selflessly loving. He never gets offended or angry because He put that on Jesus when He condemned sin in His body. God cares for our well-being so much that at the cross He removed anything that could possibly stand between Him and us. His forgiveness is already completed and we get to enjoy that reality all the time when we recognize it is complete. If we don't recognize His complete forgiveness then asking Him for forgiveness allows us to experience His forgiveness. Asking God for forgiveness doesn't gain new forgiveness, God doesn't have to forgive us again anymore than He has to be crucified again. Asking God for forgiveness just taps into what has been there since Jesus rose again.

It is great to have an open, honest relationship with God but it becomes even more wonderful when we live in the truth of what Jesus has done for us.

God's View on Sin

I have collected nearly every reference to the words sin(s) or transgression(s) in the New Testament, particularly the ones where God is also mentioned. Remembering that the New Testament is the superior revelation of God's character because "Jesus is the exact representation of God" (Hebrews 1:3) let us take a look at God's view on sin. You may be surprised at what is here and what isn't here.

Jesus saves His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
God's tender mercy gives people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. (Luke 1:77-78)
Jesus takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29)
Jesus forgives specific people of their sins. (Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5, Luke 5:20, 7:47-48)
Jesus forgives people of their sins and His gift of forgiveness is received by trusting in Him. (Matthew 12:32, Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, 26:18, Romans 4:7)
Jesus' blood of the covenant is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Mentioned in Matthew 26:28 of His death on the cross)
Jesus the Christ suffered and rose from the dead on the third day, and changing of mind for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations. (Luke 24:46-47)
The Holy Spirit convicts those who do not trust Jesus Christ of sin so that they will come to trust Him (John 16:8-9)
The Lord wipes away sins. (Acts 3:19)
Jesus washes away sins. (Acts 22:16)
God covers sins. (Romans 4:7)
The Lord does not take sin into account. (Romans 4:8)
Jesus was delivered over to be crucified because of our sins and transgressions, and was raised to free us from guilt and make us right with him. (Romans 4:25)
God does not charge people of sin where there is no law. Jesus Christ is the end of the law making all those who trust Him right with God. (Romans 5:13, Romans 10:4)
God's grace overflowed when sin increased. (Romans 5:20)
Just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)
Jesus did away with our body of sin. (Romans 6:6)
Jesus freed us from being slaves to sin.  (Romans 6:6)
Jesus freed us from sin. (Romans 6:7,18,22, 8:2)
Jesus died one time to break the power of sin for all. (Romans 6:10)
God puts us under grace which makes sin no longer our master.  (Romans 6:14)
Jesus set us free from the brutal tyranny of the power of the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh by declaring an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (Romans 8:3)
Jesus takes away the sins of His people. (Romans 11:27)
Jesus died for our sins according to the foretelling of the scriptures, and He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Jesus raised again to life and now we are not in our sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)
God the Father was in Christ on the cross making relationship with Himself available to the world by no longer counting people's sins against them. God has given us this message of relationship to tell others. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God does not count sins against people. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. (Galatians 1:3-4)
Jesus has redeemed us through His blood, He forgives our sins and trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7-8)
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions and sins, saved us by His grace, made us alive together with Christ, raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His favor & grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1,4-7)
God rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Jesus we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
Jesus made us alive together with Him while we were dead in our sins and transgressions, having forgiven us all our sins and transgressions. He canceled out the certificate of debt which consisted of laws that were against us & hostile to us. He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)
Jesus cleansed and purified us from our sins. (Hebrew 1:3)
Jesus sacrificed Himself to take away sins which removes the power of sin to separate us from God and makes relationship with God available to us. (Hebrews 2:17)
Jesus had no sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus offered up Himself, dying for the sins of all people, one time for all time. (Hebrews 7:27, 10:12)
God no longer remembers the sins of His people. (Hebrews 8:12,10:17)
Jesus came in the flesh to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
Jesus was offered Himself once to bear the sins of many. (Hebrews 9:28)
Jesus suffered as an offering for sin to purify people through His own blood. (Hebrews 13:11-12)
Jesus Christ committed no sin and told no lies. (1 Peter 2:22)
Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to the fact that we are right with God. By His wounds we were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. (1 Peter 3:18)
God (who is love) covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Jesus is trustworthy and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Jesus Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
Our sins have been forgiven through Jesus for His name's sake. (1 John 2:12)
Jesus came to earth to take away sins. (1 John 3:5)
In Jesus there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)
God puts His seed in those who trust in Him and they are no longer able to sin, because they are born of God. (1 John 3:9, 5:18)
God showed us what love is. While we were not able to love God He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
Jesus Christ loves us and released us from our sins by His blood. (Revelation 1:5)

Reflect on what was here that you weren't aware of and also consider what wasn't here that you think is true of God.

Alive to God in Christ Jesus

Romans 6:11 says, "Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus."

It is often taught that "you need to be broken over your sin." It makes us think that we have to force brokenness but forcing brokenness produces self-focused guilt. Guilt drives us away from our loving Father because it makes us feel like He loves us less because of what we've done. Instead He is loving towards us and wants us to know that our sins are totally forgiven and that His blood constantly cleanses us of any unrighteousness we come into contact with. Because of Jesus sin can never stain us!

Brokenness is not something to force. You are either broken about your deeds or you are not. God doesn't want you to bash yourself with guilt He wants you to draw near to Him and experience His accepting love for you.

To be dead to sin is to count sin as nothing. God does not hold our sins against us so we need not hold our sins against ourselves. Instead of focusing on sin, negative behavior, guilt, & shame I turn my heart to God and go on living my life for God as if the nothing had never happened though I will mend relationships as necessary if I caused others harm.

Romans 6:8-14
"Now if we died with Christ, we trust that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace."

Sadly we too often focus on the wrong side of what God is telling us in this scripture. We strive to "consider ourselves dead to sin," "to not let sin reign in our body," "to not present our body to sin."

God does not intend for us to focus on or strive to "be good." God intends for us to focus on Him and His goodness.

I am alive to God in Christ Jesus. I am to present myself to God as one who is alive from the dead so I may enjoy and display the gift of His righteousness. I am not under law. I am under grace. Law means I have to perform to please. Grace means I have been given every good thing by a loving God. Dead to sin means I don't think about sin thus I focus not on my deadness to sin but on His gracious love for me. When someone dies it is better for us to remember their life than to dwell on their death. I am dead to sin because I am alive to God. He's alive! I'm alive! We're in love!

This post has been heavily revised and edited on 1/26/12. It does not fully represent my life in April 2011. I have changed it to share the accurate truth with others.

Who God Has Made Us

The moment we are saved God changes us. To know God better we must know who God has made us. If we have the wrong perspective of ourselves we will have difficulty knowing God better.

Eternal Life is a Gift from God
First we must realize that we did not earn the eternal life God has given us.
Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9 says, "God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved through trust, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast."

We are saved, from sin and death, because God is rich in mercy. Mercy is when we don't get something we do deserve. We do not have to get the punishment we deserve for the sins we have committed because Jesus mercifully forgave sins on the cross.

We are saved by grace. Grace is unearned favor, it is getting something good that you do not deserve. It is given to us because God is gracious, He gives, He loves, and He loves to give. We are saved by grace through trust, through faith. We possess and utilize the trust to be saved but we are not the originators of the trust. Hebrews 12:2 says, Jesus is the author, the originator of our trust in Him. This is because God showed us His love and trustworthiness. Both the grace and the trust are gifts from God. We did not earn them, we did no single or multitude of good works to receive them.

Forgiven and Righteous
When we trust Jesus we receive the forgiveness for our sins that He bought at the cross. Accepting His payment removes our punishment. God says in Isaiah 43:25, "I will not remember your sins." Romans 8:1 says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 5:9 says, "Since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment."

When we trust Jesus we are made right with God, which is also referred to as being declared righteous or being justified. Romans 4:25-5:1 says, "Jesus was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by trust, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Philippians 3:9 says that, "God’s way of making us right with himself depends on trust." Galatians 2:16 says, "We become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by trust in Jesus Christ, because by observing the law no-one will be made right with God."