There’s a teaching going around that says that God has only half-forgiven us. If it sounds wacky, that’s because it is. But partial forgiveness is what you have if you think there are things we must do to stay forgiven. Sure, Jesus forgave us at the cross, but to stay forgiven we need to forgive others or keep confessing our sins or do other stuff. The implication is that if we fail to do these things, we fall out of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Three arguments are usually offered in support of this teaching:
(1) Jesus said, “If you forgive others, your heavenly Father will forgive you” (Mt 6:14), thus forgiveness is conditional on what we do
(2) Peter refers to being forgiven from our “past sins” (2 Pet 1:9) implying that our present and future sins are yet to be dealt with
(3) John seems to say that Jesus will only cleanse us from our sins if we confess our sins (1 Jn 1:9) – so if we don’t confess, we don’t get forgiven
Let’s look at each argument in turn.
(1) Jesus said forgiveness was conditional
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer and finished by stressing the need to forgive others if we desire forgiveness ourselves. The Sermon on the Mount is the most eloquent exposition of old covenant law ever preached. Jesus preached it before the cross to people who were living under the law.
Why was Jesus preaching law? Because the Pharisees had watered down the law diluting its power to silence the mouths of self-righteous men. The law was intended to break our pride and reveal our need for a Savior (Gal 3:24). If you think the law easy and do-able, you will not have a true appreciation of your sinful state and you won’t see your need for Jesus.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus announced that he had come to fulfill the law. He then proceeded to preach about the pristine, standard of God’s holy law. That standard is neatly summarized in his appeal to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
Now how would you feel if the Sunday preacher said, “you must be perfect”? How would you feel if he said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20)? If your reaction is, “I’m in trouble, I need help,” then you are closer to freedom than any Pharisee then or any religious person now.
The law is holy, righteous and good but it has no power to make you holy, righteous and good. When Jesus says you will be forgiven in proportion to the forgiveness you show to others, he is preaching pure, unadulterated law. What he says is just. It is good. And it condemns you.
The truth is the measure of forgiveness that we need from God is infinitely greater than any forgiveness we could show to others. Thankfully, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law on our behalf when he went to the cross. In the very act of paying for the world’s sin, he forgave us for our sin! That’s breathtaking. The very condition for forgiveness that Jesus preached on the Mount, he himself satisfied on the cross. Only in Christ do we receive the Father’s forgiveness.
(2) Peter implies that only our past sins are forgiven
When Jesus died on the cross he did not cry out, “it is half-finished.” No. God doesn’t do half-jobs. Everything that needed to be done to satisfy the demands of justice was done by Jesus. His sacrifice was the once and final solution for our sin (Heb 9:26).
It’s a simple truth, yet many people just don’t get it.
Peter writes that the main reason why some Christians don’t mature is that they have forgotten they have been cleansed from their past sins (2 Pet 1:9). Their knowledge of Jesus and what he accomplished is so limited that they are “ineffective and unproductive.” They live power-less lives.
We have been reconciled to God not by dead religious works but by the blood of Jesus. A Christian is literally a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Our sinful life is in our past. Although we may continue to act like sinners in our unrenewed thinking, we are sinners no longer. Hence Peter says, “stop living in the past and grow up.”
What brings forgiveness of sins? Jesus’ blood (Mt 26:28). “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). As Jesus bled and died on the cross, God canceled the law that was against us and “forgave us all our sins” (Col 1:13).
You were forgiven 2,000 years ago. It’s nonsense to say that God hasn’t forgiven our future sins because when he forgave us all our sins were in the future.
(3) John says forgiveness depends on our confession
How do we receive the free gift of forgiveness? Repent and put your trust in Jesus. John writes that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to purify us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). Some take this to mean that we are cleansed from sin through our confession. But John makes it clear that it is the “blood of Jesus” – not our confession – that “purifies us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7).
And did you notice John said “all sin”? Just in case we missed it, John says it again: Jesus cleanses us from “all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). All means all. All includes past, present and future sin. When you are cleansed by Jesus you are well and truly cleansed!
“The LORD says, ‘Now, let’s settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.’” (Is 1:18, GNB)
As I have said elsewhere, John is not preaching a doctrine of human confession but a doctrine of divine forgiveness. Like every other writer in the New Testament John goes to great lengths to show that divine forgiveness is a God-thing from start to finish. If we respond to his overtures and confess our sins and acknowledge him as the risen Lord, we are eternally, completely, perfectly forgiven!
When you sin, guess what – you are still forgiven! God’s grace is greater than your sin. Of course you should not sin and when you do you should repent, but rest assured that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.
Some people try to put limits on God’s forgiveness. They say that he withholds his forgiveness unless we do this, that and the other thing. They say that God forgives in accordance with our behavior or performance. But that is not what the Bible says.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Eph 1:7)
Just as you can’t put a limit on the riches of God’s grace, you can’t put a limit on his forgiveness. Now that’s good news!
Awesome word Paul! Love the clarity you bring to the subject.
Comment by Cornel — April 9, 2010 @ 12:53 pm |
Very well done.
Comment by Kyle — April 9, 2010 @ 3:35 pm |
Complete and continual forgiveness is possible but the idea our future sins are forgiven is “bogus” at the moment we come to cross. Baptism deals with our past sins “16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’” Said to Paul many days after his Damascus road experience after he became a believer in Jesus. Baptism in the spirit deals with our future that we are now able to be led by the spirit. That is the Word of God.
Comment by Gum — April 10, 2010 @ 7:18 pm |
I love Grace teaching, thank you for sharing, I love it! God Bless!!
Comment by Susana Vivas — May 20, 2010 @ 5:18 am |
Liked what you said, but was wondering how you would approach the following few verses?
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:26-29
Comment by Tim — June 3, 2010 @ 6:13 pm |
Hi Tim, thanks for the comment. I know that preachers who are confused about what Jesus accomplished on the cross have used this text to speak condemnation over those whom Jesus justifies. Afterall, the writer is addressing “brothers” (v.19) and refers to “us” five times in verses 19-25. Although most of the epistle is written for believers, note that the letter wasn’t addressed to Christians in particular, but to Hebrews in general. Like any good preacher, the author of the letter makes no assumptions about his audience/readers. He assumes that at least some of those hearing/reading the letter will be unsaved. He writes to warn these people.
In the 4 verses you mentioned he describes people who have received the knowledge of the truth but “deliberately keep on sinning.” In other words, they have looked at the cross, tasted the goodness of God, and scorned it. They are unrepentant. This cannot be referring to a Christian who is a new creation, who has received the grace of God that teaches us to say no to ungodliness. The mere fact that someone carries on unchanged shows that they have not been apprehended by the grace of God. So the author must be writing to sinners. When the author says “if we” in verse 26, he is identifying with the lost, much as Jesus did, in order to lead them to salvation.
One of the themes of Hebrews is that Jesus’ one-time sacrifice was superior to the sacrificial system of the Levites. They were a type, but Jesus is the reality. Any Jewish listener would’ve been familiar with the fatal consequences of rejecting Moses’ law. The author uses this to highlight the far more serious consequences of rejecting the Son of God and insulting the Spirit of grace. This scripture, along with Hebs 6:4-6, makes me think of people like Judas. Judas had an awesome exposure to the grace and goodness of God yet was unchanged by it. People who have a taste but walk away often become hardened to the gospel. It is almost impossible for such people to be brought back to the place of repentance. Perhaps a frightening warning, such as those found in Hebrews 6 and 10, is needed to jolt them to their senses.
Update: My friend Cornel Marais has just posted his take on Hebrews 10:26. He has a nice take on this scripture comparing the warning to ignoring off-ramps on the highway to hell. You might also want to check out my own post on Hebrews 10:26.
Comment by Paul Ellis — June 3, 2010 @ 7:06 pm |
Thanks Paul. I had been wrestling with that scripture for a while and wondering what the heart of its message was. Really enjoyed reading your blog!
Comment by Tim — June 4, 2010 @ 5:15 pm
The word “received the knowledge of the truth” in Hebrews 10 means just that…
Comment by Joanne Armstrong — May 7, 2012 @ 9:03 am
Hi Joanne, I had to delete your three part comment as it violated my comment policy in several respects. Please keep comments short (<250 words) and limited to the post being discussed (partial forgiveness in this case). Any comments you have on Hebrews 10:26 should go under that post.
Comment by Paul Ellis — May 7, 2012 @ 2:47 pm
Nice post.
Another point that is often ignored is the obvious hypocrisy of a God who says who tells us to forgive others (even when they do not apologize) and yet does not do it himself.
Every thing God tells us to do, he does himself. He forgives before we ask. He IS forgiveness, its in his very nature.
There WAS a legal requirement of The Law that demanded justice but let us not think it was God’s lack of forgiveness thats sent Christ to the cross. Christ is in essence the very forgiveness of God.
To suggest that we are not forgiven now or in the future would suggest the need for another Christ.
Comment by David — February 5, 2011 @ 5:34 pm |
Hi,
This is great.
I’m not sure if this is the right place for this question. But what do you make of 1 Pet 3:7 where Peter speaks to husbands to treat their wives well that their prayers wouldn’t be hindered? Or something like James 5:16 talking about the effectiveness of the prayers of a righteous man? It would seem to me that we all have complete access to God through the blood of Jesus whatever our outward behavior looks like once we have put our faith in Christ. All who are in Christ are righteous as a gift. That’s been made so clear to me and it’s so liberating.
Keep doing what you do. You are bringing freedom to many captives!
The blessings of the Lord be upon you.
Comment by C — June 24, 2011 @ 4:41 pm |
I put your question about 1 Pet 3:7 on E2R’s FB page an hour ago and it’s attracting some good answers. Check it out.
Comment by Paul Ellis — June 30, 2011 @ 8:55 pm |
Alright. Awesome. Thanks.
Comment by C — July 1, 2011 @ 8:43 am
May I also add that in HEB 10:29 the greek word for insulted (strongs #1796) means “the insulting disdain of one who considers HIMSELF superior”. So Paul is absolutely right, praise God. In verse 39 of the same chapter the word soul in the greek (#5590) means not mind, will, and emotions but BREATH, and also SPIRIT. So they were most certainly unbelievers. The Lord also shared a rhetorical question with me, “How do you insult grace (HEB 10:29, Spirit of Grace? ) “By not receiving it”. Law demands, but under grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favor (GRK)), our job is to receive praise god.
Comment by Anthony — August 18, 2011 @ 1:26 pm |
Hi Ellis,
Thanks for your great article. I do believe that Jesus has forgiven our past, present and future sins.
This is a radical statement that confounds the religious.
2 Peter 1:9 is a verse that really troubled me when I first learned that all sins: past , present and future sins have been forgiven.
However, that verse has not been correctly translated by many versions. The original rendering says……..’past LIFE of sin’……….other versions say …’old SINS’……
I think there’s a HUGE difference here. If it’s old sins, it implies present and future sins are not included. But if it’s a LIFE of sin, it means a complete take away of past, present and future sins altogether.
One edition of New Living Translations says…..old life of sin……..
and the New Life Version (NLV) puts it this way:……. 9 But if you do not have these things, you are blind and cannot see far. You forget God saved you from your old life of sin.
I’m glad you said this: “A Christian is literally a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Our sinful life is in our past. Although we may continue to act like sinners in our unrenewed thinking, we are sinners no longer.”
Regards,
Victor Tembo
Comment by Victor Tembo — December 9, 2011 @ 10:10 pm |
Beautiful! Thank you…
Comment by aaron — April 4, 2012 @ 1:16 pm |