One of the greatest sources of anxiety among believers is confusion over issues of sin and forgiveness. Tell a confused Christian that there is an unforgiveable sin and it’s like throwing petrol on a fire. So is there an unforgiveable sin and, if so, what is it?

The bottom 10 list

Below is a list of candidate sins that I have gleaned from various commentaries. You may have committed one or all of them, but rest assured that none of them is unforgiveable:

1.    an attitude that calls evil good and good evil
2.    a lack of reverence
3.    being stubborn and unteachable
4.    not loving the Lord with all your heart, mind and strength
5.    willful or intentional sin
6.    unconfessed sin
7.    unrepented sin
8.    harboring unforgiveness in your heart
9.    taking the Lord’s Name in vain
10.    having disrespectful thoughts about the Holy Spirit

Now there is some bad stuff on this list that can really hurt you. For instance, if you harbor unforgiveness you’ll end up bitter and twisted. But it is not helpful to tell a young mother whose husband has just run off with her best friend that she must forgive him or face eternal damnation. You might as well ask her to walk on water! The power to overcome sin – and forgive the unforgiveable – is not found in religious fear-mongering. So, in the hope of breaking a few man-made yokes, let’s review some of these so-called unforgiveable sins.

Unforgiveable sins?

Some people will try and tell you that the unforgiveable sin is a bad attitude or a lack of reverence or it’s being stubborn and unteachable. This is nonsense! Jesus didn’t suffer and die to enter us into a reverence contest. We neither earn points for being quick learners nor get punished for being dimwitted. Attitude is certainly important as it will affect the way you live and whether you reign in life. But a poor attitude won’t disqualify a saint any more than a good attitude will qualify a sinner.

Others say the unforgiveable sin is not loving the Lord with all your heart, mind and strength – it’s putting Sunday football ahead of Jesus. This mindset naturally leads to a system of religious score-keeping. It’s the debits versus the credits. But God is not counting the number of hours we put into church versus the number of hours we spend kicking a football. You don’t qualify for eternal life because you maintain a positive or pious attitude. In fact, Jesus said this sort of religious thinking makes Him nauseous. We don’t love God to stay on His good side. We love Him because He first loved us and saved us and redeemed us and did everything we needed, while we were yet sinners (Rm 5:8).

What about willful sin? That sounds serious. Well if Jesus can’t forgive the sins we’ve done on purpose then no one can be saved. Don’t worry – His best is greater than your worst and His grace is greater than your sin!

I’ve heard plenty of people say that unpardonable sins are those we neither confess nor repent of. (This would include suicide.) They seem to forget that Jesus went around forgiving people who neither repented nor asked for forgiveness. They also forget that He forgave them long before they were born. If you preach, “you must repent to be forgiven,” then you’re preaching dead works. You’re trying to define righteousness in terms of what you do or don’t do. Wrong tree.

Am I saying you don’t need to repent? You must, but from dead works rather than sin (He 6:1). Jesus said, “repent and believe the good news” (Mk 1:15). When you change the way you think and start believing the good news – that His grace and love led Him to die for you before you had done any confessing or turning of your own – it will empower you to overcome sin. We don’t turn from sin to get forgiven; we turn because we are forgiven and His grace enables us.

What about harboring unforgiveness in our hearts? Didn’t Jesus say forgiving others was a precondition for receiving God’s forgiveness (Mt 6:15)? If it is then there’s no such thing as grace. Read your Bible through the lens of the cross. Jesus preached the law of conditional forgiveness to those who lived under the law to silence their self-righteousness and reveal their need for a Savior (Rm 3:19, Gal 3:24). We are not under law but grace (Rm 6:15). We forgive others because He first forgave us (Col 3:13).

What about taking the Lord’s Name in vain? This is one of the 10 Commandments and was a stoning offense under the old covenant:

“Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.” (Lev 24:16)

If you have taken the Lord’s Name in vain, then thank God that we live under a new and better covenant! Thank God for Jesus who has set us free from the curse of the law and and who said:

“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven…” Mat 12:32a

You may have cursed God, but He has blessed you! I wish I could go back to 19th century Copenhagen, find the gloomy Dane and tell him the good news. “Søren, all your sins were forgiven!”

But what about the rest of that verse…

“…but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” Mat 12:32b

Here Jesus identifies the one and only sin that He says will never be forgiven, namely, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

The unforgiveable sin

This week I heard about someone who was battling condemnation because they had had disrespectful thoughts about the Holy Spirit. They were worried that they had committed the unforgiveable sin. If this has happened to you, don’t panic! First of all, don’t take ownership for every thought that passes through your mind. As the saying goes, you can’t stop the birds flying overhead, but you can stop them building a nest in your hair. Second, and as we will see in the next post, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is something very specific. If you’ve had disrespectful thoughts, that probably means you don’t know the Holy Spirit very well. But you haven’t blasphemed Him. Not even close.

So who is a blasphemer? Religion paints a picture of a blasphemer as someone who is belligerent and foul-mouthed. But a blasphemer may look more like the Pharisees and law-teachers of Jesus’ day. A blasphemer is one whose beliefs prevent him from receiving the grace of God. This includes those who refuse to believe that all the sins of men have been forgiven. Rather than allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of their unbelief, they are preoccupied with maintaining their own religious performance. “How’s my walk? Am I confessing my sins? Am I praying enough, maintaining a positive attitude and behaving such that God will bless me?” These are works that lead to death. Those who do them need to repent.

What is the unforgiveable sin? It is the sin of unbelief in Jesus and His finished work. It is the sin of not receiving the free gift of His grace and righteousness. This sin cannot be forgiven because he who commits it chooses to reject the very thing that would otherwise save him. This rejection may take the form of hard heartedness (“I don’t need Him”) or religious idolatry (“He needs my help”). In either case the grace of God is rendered ineffective simply because it is not received.

If you love Jesus, there’s no need to get hung up over the unforgiveable sin. Although hell will be full of murderers, thieves and adulterers, people do not go to hell for committing murder, stealing or adultery. As terrible as they are, all these sins have been paid for by the precious blood of the Lamb (1 Jn 1:7, Eph 1:7). So have the sins listed at the top of this post. Your choice is this: You can be sin-conscious and gloomy, or you can be Christ-conscious and rejoice!

“Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven, whose sins are pardoned!
Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!” (Rm 4:7-8)

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Related posts:
- Two religions: Works and blood
- Are you religious? (Take the test!)
- Chop off your hand?! Was Jesus serious?
- What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

1Co 11:26  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1Co 11:27  Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
1Co 11:29  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Co 11:30  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
1Co 11:31  But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
1Co 11:32  When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

This scripture above must be one of the most abused and misunderstood passages in the entire Bible. It is regularly used to deny communion to those who need and it is frightening to 10 year olds. As we will see, it is one of the most liberating scriptures in the Bible, yet many believers are condemned by it. Doesn’t this seem a bit odd to you? Afterall, this passage was written by the same apostle who said, “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” So what’s going on here? Did Paul have a change of heart? Is he now saying that God will condemn us if we partake of communion in an unworthy manner? No he is not.

I suspect that the problems began 400 years ago when the translators working for King James chose words that conveyed a sense of punishment and condemnation. Look at the word judgment in verse 29 above, which is taken from the NIV translation. In the original Greek the word is krima. When the King James translators were looking for an English word corresponding to krima, they chose the word damnation and the verse became,

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself… (KJV)

That sounds seriously bad! But krima can also be translated as decision or decree. Think of a judge presiding in a court. His decision is called a judgment or krima. As I have said elsewhere, when you have been raised on the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is natural to assume that all judgments are bad. When a cop waves you over, you automatically think the worst. But a judgment is not inherently bad; it’s just a decision.

Similar words are found in verses 31 and 32:

For if we would judge (diakrino) ourselves, we should not be judged (krino). But when we are judged (krino), we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned (katakrino) with the world. (KJV)

If you click on the Greek words italicized above, you will see that diakrino and krino mean to distinguish and decide, while katakrino means to give judgment against or condemn. In other words, the only time Paul refers to explicitly bad judgment (the condemning, punishing kind) in this passage, is when he is referring to the world and not the Corinthian Christians. Contrary to what you’ve heard, this is not about examining yourself to see whether you’re worthy of communion and Paul never says we damn ourselves by taking it in an unworthy manner.

So what sort of judgments or decisions does Paul want us to make when taking communion? And what does it mean to proclaim the Lord’s death? To answer these questions we need to look at the two mighty deeds Jesus’ accomplished when He went to the cross. These two deeds are represented in communion by the bread and the cup.

The bread

At the Last Supper Jesus handed out the bread, said it was His body, and told the disciples to eat it in remembrance of Him (Lk 22:19). He didn’t say much else because no doubt they could all recall the fuss that happened the last time He said He was the bread of life:

“I am the bread of life… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn 6:48,51-54)

As a result of these words many disciples turned away from following Jesus (Jn 6:66). To them, the idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood was repelling. They did not grasp that Jesus was referring to His impending sacrifice – that He would give up His body in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4-5 so that we might have life. But the lesson wasn’t lost on Peter for he later quoted Isaiah when he wrote, “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pe 2:24).

What does it mean to eat the flesh of Jesus? It means to behold Jesus and all that He has done for you, both at the whipping post and on the cross. In communion the bread represents His body which was broken so that you might have life and health. This is good news for the sick, but it will have no effect in your life unless you believe it. In the passage above, Paul is basically exhorting us to judge whether sickness or health is from God. Sadly, many believers are confused about these things. They think that God wants them sick so they can learn stuff. They don’t recognize (diakrino) that Jesus gave His body so that we might be healed. By failing to honor His body and blood they take communion in a less than worthy manner. It’s like saying, “Jesus was wounded for nothing,” or “by His wounds I have not been healed.”

Sickness and death are part of the curse of sin (Ge 2:17). Jesus died to set us free from sin and all its effects, but we won’t be free unless we put our faith in His work. The good news profits nothing unless it is mixed with faith in them that hear it (He 4:2). The Corinthians were suffering unnecessarily because they were not recognizing or discerning the Lord’s body. “This is why many among you are weak and sick and some have even died.” It wasn’t that God was judging them for getting drunk at communion. No, they were suffering the effects of sin because they did not properly value what Christ had done on their behalf at Calvary. Because they were not judging themselves in light of the finished work of the cross (forgiven, accepted, blessed, healed), they were still experiencing the punishing effects of sin (rejection, sickness, condemnation). Because they weren’t attributing to Christ the full worth of His sacrifice, they were still suffering – in the language of King James – the effects of damnation.

The cup

At the Last Supper Jesus took the cup and announced a new covenant based on His blood:

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28)

In fear of eating and drinking in an unworthy manner, many Christians treat communion as a time of somber reflection. But proclaiming the Lord’s death should be an occasion of great joy and celebration! Was there ever a better reason to party than this? Think about it: We who were once defiled by sin have been washed white as snow (Is 1:18). Our guilty consciences have been cleansed and our forgivenness has been eternally secured by the precious blood of Jesus (He 10:22, 1 Pe 1:19). This is the good news in a cup!

I will provide a line-by-line paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 11:26-32 in my next post, but Paul’s message to the Corinthians can be summed up like this: Judge yourself in light of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Because of His body and blood, you are forgiven and healed. Learn to discriminate what is from God (e.g., healing) and what is part of sin’s curse (e.g., sickness). Understand that anything that is not God’s will in heaven (there is no sickness in heaven) is not His will here on earth. When you learn to distinguish what is from God and what is not you are chastened or disciplined (paideauo, literally, trained up or instructed) of the Lord and escape the adverse effects of sin that the rest of the world suffers.

Communion = good news for the sick and unworthy

Are you battling sickness, condemnation and guilt? Then prepare a communion table in the presence of these your enemies and proclaim the Lord’s death! Don’t look at communion as merely a churchy-ritual; make it a bold declaration of faith! As you take the bread, behold the Lord’s body that was broken so yours could be whole. As you take the cup, discern the Lord’s blood that was shed one time for all your sins (He 10:12). Remind your enemies that they were thoroughly defeated at the cross (Co 2:15). Because Jesus has triumphed we can reign in this life (Rms 5:17). There is no grief or sorrow He did not carry; there is no curse He did not redeem you from (Is 54:4). Judge yourself as God judges you – perfectly righteous, eternally forgiven, and completely whole!
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Related posts:
-    Are sinners forgiven too?
-    Who can take communion?
-    1 Peter 4:17: It’s judgment time!
-    Nothing but the blood of Jesus: 5 reasons to thank Him

Here’s a passage that seems to come up whenever something bad happens to Christians. If a pastor stumbles in sin and his church splits, it’s God judging His house. If an earthquake wipes out a city and some of those who die happen to be Christians, it’s God judging His house. Some people seem to take perverse delight in threatening others with the sword of God’s judgment. They seem to forget Jesus’ warning in Matthew 26:52.

All of our sins were dealt with at the cross. We have been fully redeemed and sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. There is a day coming when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, but this is only bad news if you’re a goat! If you are a sheep it is a day to look forward to with eager anticipation and confidence. Where does this confidence come from? It comes from a revelation of the Father’s love as expressed in the Son’s perfect work on the cross.

So what is Peter talking about when he says it’s time for judgment to begin with the house of God? I’m going to give you two interpretations. The first interpretation emphasizes things we must do while the second emphasizes things Christ has already done. However, I will first give you the scripture in context:

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. (1 Pet 4:12-19)

Interpretation #1: Work harder

There are only two kinds of religion in the world – religion based on our works or religion based on His blood. Someone whose faith rests in human works will interpret the judgment of 1 Peter 4:17 as punishment for Christians. Of course they won’t come right out and say it. They will use words like purification and discipline but what they really mean is condemnation and wrath. They will refer to patterns of judgment in the Old Testament but make no mention of the cross. They may talk about Ananias and Sapphira but ignore Jesus. Strip away the jargon and their message will be this: “Bad things are going to happen to you. God is behind these bad things, but don’t worry because far worse things are going to happen to sinners.” They may try and pass this off as “good news” by saying it’s better to suffer a little wrath now than hellfire later. What should we do in response to such a message? More works of course! We should try harder to be better Christians. We should repent more, confess more, and generally straighten up and fly right.

There’s no way around it. If you interpret 1 Peter 4:17 through the lens of works you will end up with a condemning message. “God loves you and because He loves you He’s going to give you a whipping. It’s for your own good.” How is it, then, that in the five verses immediately preceding, Peter uses words and phrases like “rejoice,” “be overjoyed,” “you are blessed” and “praise God that you bear His name”? How in the name of all that is sensible are we supposed to get joyful over a divine whipping? Either Peter has lost touch with reality, or he has something completely different in mind.

Interpretation #2: Make up your mind

The key to understanding 1 Peter 4:17 is the word “judgment.” In the original Greek this word is krima which means “decision” or “decree.” It is closely related to the word krino which means “to distinguish or decide.” The appropriate image is of a judge deciding a case. A judge’s decision is called a judgment. If you have been raised with a legal mindset, it is natural to assume that all judgments are bad. When a cop waves you over, you automatically think the worst. But a judgment is not inherently bad; it’s just a decision. When Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:13 “judge (krino) for yourselves whether a woman should pray with her head uncovered,” he is saying “you decide.”

When Peter says it’s time for judgment, he is literally saying it’s decision time. Who is making the decision and what is the decision being made? From most translations we get the impression that God is judging or deciding things about the church. But a literal translation of this verse, such as is found in the Literal Translation and Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible, reveals that Peter is seeking a judgment, or decision, from the house of God. It is those in the house of God who are deciding. What is the decision that Peter has in mind? Judging by what he says in the next verse, it seems to be the decision that separates the righteous from the ungodly. Peter reminds us that the decision to put one’s faith in Jesus is the most important decision there is:

“…if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the good news (the Gospel) of God?” (1 Pet 4:17 AMP)

Some context will help. Peter was writing during a time of great persecution. Because of Nero – not God – Christians were being tortured and killed for their faith in Christ. Paul was probably dead and Peter himself would soon be crucified. If you were a follower of Christ, martyrdom was a very real prospect. In view of this, Peter says three things: (1) Don’t be surprised that you are suffering for the gospel (4:12). If they persecuted Jesus they will persecute you. (2) Even though persecution is painful, rejoice on account of the coming glory (4:13). It hurts now, but justice is coming. (3) If this suffering is causing you to be in two minds about being identified as a follower of Christ, then make up your mind and decide (4:17). Better to suffer with Jesus now than to be found without him later.

Is Peter saying Christians can lose their salvation?

No he is not. There are two issues here. One is security and the other is fruitfulness. In the last verse in the passage he encourages the believers to commit themselves “to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Who is faithful? God is! You may be worried about persecution but you do not need to worry about God letting you go. In the words of Spurgeon, if He has loved you once He will love you forever. The concern is not that Christians could lose their salvation, but that they might be driven underground in fear (3:6,14). This is why Peter urges them to continue doing good (4:17), even in the face of persecution. Peter knew from personal experience what it was like to run from Jesus in fear and he didn’t want his readers doing that. The good news of God’s grace will not be heard unless its preachers are bold.

A final word on judgment

Jesus said two things about judgment that are relevant here:

“For God sent not the Son into the world to judge (krino) the world…” (Jn 3:17a, ASV)

“For judgment (krima) I have come into this world…” (Jn 9:39)

Jesus did not come to judge the world, yet the world will be judged on account of Jesus. Remember that another word for judgment is decision. Now if Jesus said He is not the one doing the deciding (krino), but that decisions (krima) will be made on account of Him, then who is making these decisions? We are! Every single one of us will either decide to put our faith in Jesus or we won’t. Those who put their faith in Christ are made into a new creation and given His Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor 5:5,17). Those who refuse to decide are left unchanged. You could say that we are all born goats but some of us choose to become sheep. When Jesus returns in glory He will not judge anyone. He will simply separate those who have chosen to become sheep from those who have chosen to remain goats. The Grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, but not all men will put their faith in Him.

Let me finish with three questions for those who still think God is judging/punishing the church or Christchurch or the West.

1. Those who are in Christ are complete (Col 2:10) and perfect forever (He 10:14). If Jesus said He would not judge even the lost (Jn 12:47), why would He judge those He has redeemed and are now reckoned perfect?
2. Peter said “Christ died for sins once for all” (1 Pet 3:18). If my sins have been removed and God is now “done with sin” (1 Pet 4:1), then what is left to punish?
3. Finally, if the punishment that brought us peace was placed on Christ (Is 53:5), how can God now punish us? Would He not be unjust if He punished twice for the same offence?

Just something to think about.
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Related posts:
- Whose medicine are you taking?
- Does God give and take away?
- Incomplete deeds: The zombie church of Sardis (Rev 3:1-6)

Show me any Christian who is making a mark for God today, and I’ll show you someone who knows they have been forgiven. Complete and unconditional forgiveness is the foundation of our faith. It is what separates Christianity from all the man-made religions of the world. Yet many sincere believers do not know for sure whether they are forgiven. And if you’re not sure about that, you won’t know for certain whether God wants to heal the sick, raise the dead and drive out demons.

When I started this blog I wrote quite a lot about forgiveness and how it can never be earned. At that time I received many comments from sincere believers who objected to what I had to say about confessing sins. Confession seems to be a touchy subject. By confession, I mean reviewing your sins and shortcomings. I don’t want to belittle confession. If talking and being open about things brings life to you, then do it. But – and this is a big but – if you think confessing sins is a prerequisite to receiving forgiveness, then you are in danger of setting aside the grace of God.

As we will see in this quick study, confessing-to-be-forgiven is one of the most diabolical lies that has ever been taught. It is also one of the most effective – just look at what it has done to us. Instead of discipling nations we’re cloistered in small groups trying to manage each other’s sin. Instead of exercising authority over sin and sickness, we’re enslaving ourselves with the yoke of law. Instead of drawing from the well of salvation with joy and telling others the good news, we’re weeping at the altar like a bad advertisement.

I want to draw some very clear lines in the sand, so in this short series I will outline 12 reasons why believers never, ever, have to confess their sins to be forgiven. If it appears that I’m preaching the negative, it is only to highlight the many positive things that the Bible says about your forgiveness – things that we can be certain about. I’m going to travel fast and light across a lot of ground. I will list scriptures but leave you to study them at your leisure. My hope is that you will come to a firm conviction about your forgiven-ness, that you will thank God for what He has done and live free. Then I hope you will go and tell others the good news of God’s grace. Everyone needs the gift of forgiveness.

Without further ado, here are the first three reasons why we don’t have to confess our sins to be forgiven:

1.    It’s not in the Bible

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1:9)

This is the only verse in the Bible where our confession is connected with His forgiveness. The Greek word for confess is homologeo which means to acknowledge, concede or agree with. In this passage John is writing to unbelievers who were deceived because they thought they were without sin (see v.8). How do I know that John is talking to unbelievers and not Christians? Because he is addressing people who are walking in darkness (v.6), who need to be purified from all unrighteousness (v.9) and who, by insisting that they have never sinned, are making God out to be a liar (v.10).

What message does John have for sinners who don’t think they’re sinners? “Acknowledge your sinful state, turn to God and receive His gift of forgiveness.” There’s only one thing that stops a sinner from receiving God’s grace and that’s unbelief. If you don’t see your need for forgiveness, you are well and truly lost. You may claim to know God but He doesn’t know you. There’s only one way to the Father and that’s through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. God made provision for your redemption and forgiveness at the cross, but you will never see it unless you acknowledge (ie: confess) your need for a Savior.

And what message does John have for those of us who have already turned to Jesus? Do we need to confess too? We already have! Remember, confession means agreeing with God. When you first surrendered to the Lord, you might have prayed “thank you for forgiving me.” That’s  confession. You were acknowledging that you had a sin problem and in need of God’s forgiveness. In the New Testament people sometimes confessed their sins when they were baptized (Mt 3:6). How many times do you need to be baptized before you are baptized? Just once. How many times do you need to say yes to God before you are in agreement with God? Just once. And how many times do you need to receive God’s free gift of forgiveness before you have received it? Just once. (And for those of you interested in Greek verb tenses, see my note in the comments below.)

2.    You were forgiven 2000 years ago

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col 2:13-14)

We all need to forgive and be forgiven, but when it comes to sin, your forgiven-ness is a done deal. Jesus forgave all your sins at the cross long before you were born, long before you did anything. Your performance never came into it. I said above that 1 John 1 was written for unbelievers who don’t see their need for forgiveness. In the second chapter John writes for the saints, and what does he tell them? “Your sins have been forgiven on account of His name” (1 Jn 2:12). If your sins have already been forgiven, what are you confessing for?

3.    You were forgiven through His blood

Under the old covenant law, there could be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22). What the law prefigured, Christ fulfilled. At the Last Supper Jesus explained the basis of our forgiveness:

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mat 26:28)

Note the absence of any qualifiers. Jesus did not say, “…provided they confess first.” It’s His blood from start to finish. 1 John 1 may have given you the impression that sinners are only forgiven when they confess. But John makes it clear that it is not our confession but “the blood of Jesus Christ (that) cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7). So why confess at all? Remember, Biblical confession is not listing everything that’s wrong with you. True confession is a positive response to something that God has already done. It is verbalizing faith. It is saying “thank you Jesus for your blood that was poured out for my forgiveness. Because of You, I am forgiven!”

Never forget that you are forgiven

What is the number one reason why Christians are barren and ineffective in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus? According to 2 Peter 1:9, it is forgetting that we have been cleansed from our old sins. To keep the church weak and impotent, the enemy only needs to get us to forget our forgiven-ness. Indeed, forgiveness is easy to forget when we sin. And that’s why it is important to confess the word of God over ourselves. So the next time you stumble, don’t get introspective but put your faith into action. Look at yourself in the mirror and declare with confidence that you have been forgiven by the blood of the Lamb!

In Part II of this study we will look at three more promises about forgiveness and three more reasons why Christians don’t need to confess their sins to receive them.

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Related posts:
- Are sinners forgiven too?
- Nothing but the blood of Jesus: 5 reasons to thank Him
- Where does forgiveness come from? And why does it matter?

For example, the very first words of the New Testament in the King James Bible are, “The Gospel According to Matthew.” Read on and you will also find the gospels according to Mark, Luke and John. Keep reading and you will come across Paul telling the Romans about “my gospel” before warning the Corinthians to hold firm to the gospel that “I preached to you.” Read all the way to the end and you will also encounter the “gospel of your salvation” (Eph 1:13), the “gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15), the “glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Tim 1:11), before finally reaching the “eternal gospel” proclaimed by the angel (Rev 14:6).

Of course, these are all labels for one and the same gospel. There is only one gospel in the Bible and that is the gospel which was known to Paul as the gospel of grace:

“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)

The One and Only gospel

The gospel of grace is the gospel and there is no other. This gospel is built, not on a doctrine or a theology, but on Jesus Christ himself:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth … From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:14, 16-17)

Whenever you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you can substitute the name “Jesus.” Jesus is grace personified. What does the grace of God look like? It looks like Jesus. What does the grace of God sound like? It sounds like Jesus. How do we know that God is gracious? He gave us Jesus who is full of grace and truth. So when Paul refers to the gospel of grace in Acts 20, he means exactly the same thing as when he and others refer to the gospel of Christ or the gospel of God or the gospel of his Son or the gospel of peace in other places. All of these gospels reveal the One who is called Grace, who was given to us out of the fullness of the Father’s grace, and through whom we have received grace upon grace.

What about when Jesus refers to the gospel of the kingdom (Mt 24:14)? Is this a different gospel?

Whenever you hear Jesus talking about the “kingdom” you can substitute the word “king” because the kingdom is nothing without the king. Who is the King? His name is Jesus. When Jesus says we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” he is essentially saying “seek me and my righteousness.” And where do we find his righteousness? In the gospel!

“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Rms 1:17)

To sum up, the gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of Christ which is the gospel of God which is the gospel of grace. They are different labels for the exact same gospel message.

What is the gospel of grace?

Paul summarized the gospel of grace in his letter to the Corinthians:

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time… (1 Cor 15:1-6)

What are the four most important bits of the gospel message according to its most prolific preacher? They are that; (i) Christ died for our sins as foretold in the Scriptures, (ii) he was buried, (iii) he was raised as the prophets foretold, and (iv) he appeared in resurrection to many.

The gospel is 100% good news!

On the cross Jesus became our sin offering, taking our punishment and securing our eternal forgiveness. He died so that we might live, he was wounded that we might be healed, and he was cursed so that we might be blessed. Jesus forged a new covenant in his blood, exchanging our sinfulness for his righteousness. His miraculous return from death confirmed that Jesus was God’s Son, just as he said he was. It also showed that the demands of justice had been fully satisfied and that no further payment was necessary. As Derek Prince famously preached in The Divine Exchange, Jesus’ death on the cross was “perfectly perfect and completely complete.” There is nothing more that needs to be done.

Do you believe it?

The gospel is good news whether you believe it or not, but it will only save you if you believe it. As Paul declared to the Corinthians, “by this gospel are you saved.” Again, by which gospel are you saved? By the gospel of God’s grace:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)

The gospel is not just for sinners

The gospel is no mere message. It is heaven’s cure for the world’s woes. And we can be fully confident that God’s cures are effective! Those who put their faith in his goodness and grace experience salvation power in all its fullness – victory over sin, healing from sickness, freedom from oppression.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Rms 1:16)

The gospel is not just good news for the sinner. It is good news for the sick, the prisoner and the poor. It’s even good news for Christians. Today many sincere Christians are bound up in the dead works of performance-oriented religion. Their joylessness and lack of fruit testifies that they have forgotten the good news of God’s grace.

What are the works of grace?

Someone once asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

“Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the One he has sent.’” (Jn 6:29)

The greatest thing you can do is believe the good news of God’s grace revealed in the One he has sent. Believe that because of what Jesus has done, you are forgiven, you have been clothed with his righteousness, and you have been adopted into his family. When you say “Yes!” to Jesus, he moves into your life and you become one with him in spirit. On the inside, you now look exactly like Jesus and your status before God is “perfect forever” (Heb 10:14).

But your outside still needs work. Your mind needs to be renewed. Your body may need fixing. Your relationships may need mending. Your neighbors and workmates probably need saving. And God’s plan is to bring heaven to your corner of the world through you.

God has empowered you through his Spirit and the precious promises of his word to fulfill the gospel mandate. We do not need to hunker down and ask God to give us things. We just need to believe that through Christ we already have everything we need to get the job done (Eph 1:3, 2 Pet 1:3).

“Working out your salvation” means discovering who you are in Christ, taking risks for Jesus, and ministering in his power and authority. It means representing Jesus and his cross-wrought victory in areas where sins’ effects are still being felt. When you shine with Jesus-light, darkness flees and the dominion of the king is enlarged. Sin, sickness and poverty are put under his feet when you put them under your feet. We complete the mission the same way we started – by trusting in God’s amazing grace:

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Cor 15:10, NKJV)

Which gospel are you listening to?

Take care that the gospel you are listening to is the gospel of grace. As Paul warned the Galatians, anything which adds to or detracts from the good news of God’s grace, is a distortion or perversion of the true gospel (Gal 1:6-7). In Part 2 of this study, we will look at some of the ways the gospel of grace gets distorted.

Related posts:
- Two religions: Works and blood
- The gospel comes to Laodicea
- Top 12 blessings in the new covenant

1.    religion based on works

2.    religion based on the blood of Jesus

People waste years studying different religions trying to figure out which one is best. But when you strip away all the packaging it’s actually a fairly simple choice: it’s either your works or his blood. Still, dealing with simple choices has never been humanity’s strong point. Just look at the history of religion…

The dummies’ guide to religion

From the time of Cain men have been trying to impress God with the fruits of their labor. And from the time of Cain God has been rejecting their offerings:

“The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” (Gen 4:4-5)

Abel, you will recall, offered the firstborn of his flock while Cain brought a fruit basket. Why was Abel’s offering accepted while Cain’s was rejected?

“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous….” (Heb 11:4 NKJV)

Both Cain and Abel had faith, but Abel’s faith led to a more excellent sacrifice. Malcolm Smith, author of The Lost Secret of the New Covenant, writes that “Biblical faith never initiates an action; it is a responsive act of trust in a word from God” (p.105). What was Abel responding to? He was responding to the sacrificial gift God had given to Adam and Eve in the Garden. No doubt Abel learned from his parents how God had shed the blood of animals to hide their nakedness. By faith, Abel trusted that a blood sacrifice of this nature would make him pleasing to God and it did.

Abel’s faith was a response to what God had done, but Cain’s faith was in the work of his own hands. Abel considered what God had done, but Cain wanted God to look at what he had done. Big mistake. Instead of adopting God’s definition of an acceptable sacrifice, he tried to forge his own religion and was rejected. Cain got angry and went into a sulk. Look carefully at what God said next:

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Gen 4:7)

Cain had worked hard to please God. His offering was paid for by the sweat of his brow and the toil of his hands. It was a costly sacrifice, but it was a useless and unacceptable one nonetheless. God in his mercy pointed Cain back in the right direction, but Cain didn’t repent. Instead he murdered his brother and the rest is history.

Two brothers, two religions

Religion based on human effort was, and continues to be, unacceptable to God. You can toil and serve and bring costly sacrifices every day of your life and it will change your standing before him not one bit. He is a just God and you are a born sinner. You cannot buy your salvation with acts of charity. You cannot bribe your way into the Book of Life with your acts of righteousness. Don’t get angry like Cain, just repent and put your faith in the blood sacrifice given by God.

Of course this does not mean you should go out and slaughter some poor sheep! The blood of animals does nothing to take away our sins (Heb 10:4). Before the cross these things only had value because they pointed ahead to the blood of Jesus. We live after the cross. The Lamb of God has come and his one-time sacrifice was more than enough to account for all the sins of the world (Heb 9:26).

Jesus once said:

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” (Jn 6:53).

Do you hunger and thirst for Christ and his righteousness? Or are you satisfied by the fruits of your own labor? Jesus made it plain that religion based on works is unacceptable to God and leads to death. But faith in his blood leads to eternal life and favor with God.

Two preachers

Just as there are only two religions, there are two kinds of preacher; those who say we are qualified by works and those say we are qualified by the blood of Jesus. These two preachers may look the same, but their messages could not be more different. Consider the following 10 contrasts…

The Works-Preacher says, you have to do stuff to stay saved. Make a mistake and you’re lost for eternity.
The Blood-Preacher says, Jesus’ blood has obtained your eternal and complete redemption (Heb 9:12). Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

WP: Don’t touch! Don’t handle! Touch no unclean thing and be holy.
BP: You are sanctified by the blood of the covenant (Heb 10:29), that is, by Jesus’ blood (Lk 22:20). We separate ourselves from unclean things not to become holy but because we are already holy and what fellowship does light have with darkness?

WP: You have to overcome in life’s trials and dress yourself in white clothes, otherwise he will blot out your name.
BP: It’s not about you. Jesus is your victory! Wash your filthy self-righteous clothes in the cleansing blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Rejoice, because he promised to never blot out your name.

WP: Say your prayers and have a quiet time every day. If you don’t remain in him, he’ll lop you off and throw you into the fire.

BP: Jesus said, “Whoever drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:56). Your “remaining” has nothing to do with having a quiet time. God has reconciled you to himself through Christ. Your reconciliation is something he did, not you. When you apprehend who he is and how much he has already blessed you, a healthy appetite will motivate you to discover more of him in his word.

WP: Beware of sin! It desires to be your Master.
BP: We are called to be Christ-conscious, not sin-conscious. His sacrifice did away with sin (Heb 9:26). We have been set free from our sin by his blood (Rev 1:5). Live free from fear and condemnation.

WP: When you sin, you need to confess to get forgiven again.
BP: You were forgiven 2000 years ago (Col 2:13). Jesus said your forgiveness is not based on confession, but his blood (Mt 26:28). His blood is a necessary and sufficient condition for your complete forgiveness (Heb 9 & 10).

WP: When you sin, you need to confess to get clean again.
BP: The blood of Jesus cleanses and keeps on cleansing you (1 Jn 1:7).

WP: Confession is good for clearing a guilty conscience. Ask the Holy Spirit to examine you and point out your shortcomings.
BP: The blood of Christ has cleansed your conscience so that we may be free to serve God (Heb 9:14). Because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, the Holy Spirit chooses to remember your sins no more (Heb 10:17). He will only ever convict you of your righteousness in Christ (Jn 16:10).

WP: God is holy and lives in unapproachable light. Don’t even think about drawing near.
BP: You who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13).

WP: No one can see the face of God and live. Better stay safe and hang back.
BP: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled by the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22)

Pastor Cain vs Pastor Abel

Who are you listening to? Where is your faith? Is it in death-dealing works of religion? Or is it in the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ? Are you striving to earn God’s favor or are you resting in the finished work of the cross?

It makes no difference whether you’re Catholic or Protestant, Episcopalian, Baptist or a member of the Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism. If you are standing on the blood of Jesus, then you are completely forgiven, you are acceptable, and God’s favor rests on you!

___

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Some have lost sight of an important truth, possibly the most important truth, which is this: no blood means no salvation. And no redemption, no forgiveness, no sanctification, and no future.

Without the blood, the gospel is no gospel and the cross is nothing more than two beams of wood. As the song-writer wrote, our cleansing, our wholeness, our pardon, our hope, our peace, our righteousness, our overcoming, are all based on nothing but the blood of Jesus.

On the night before he died, Jesus said:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Lk 22:20)

It was left to the writers of the New Testament to unpackage the full significance of that statement. I want to highlight five things they said about the blood. This is not a complete list, but it will be more than enough to get you thanking Jesus. Don’t race through this list on your way to another website. This list of blessings cost Jesus his life and purchased yours. Read it slowly and be blessed.

(1) Jesus’ blood did away with sin

“He has appeared once for all… to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26b).

Sin is no longer merely covered up by the sacrifice of animals. It has been “removed” (GNB), “abolished” (AMP) and “done away with” (NIV). Sin, your old Master, has been ended, rubbed out, whacked.

You may think that sin is behind some of the problems in your life. How can that be if Jesus has done away with sin? His blood is what the Message Bible calls, “the final solution of sin”. Go take communion and talk to your problems about the precious blood of Jesus that makes you whole.

(2) Jesus’ blood paid for your eternal redemption

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Pet 1:18-19)

You were born a slave to sin, a prisoner of your appetites, programmed to screw up. Sure, you had some good days when you could keep things in check. But deep down you knew that your desires unleashed would bring ruin and destruction. This is humanity’s heritage – a selfish, sensual life passed on from our ancestor Adam.

But you were redeemed from this pointless way of life by the blood of Jesus. Jesus did not sneak in and kidnap you from the enemy’s camp. He bought you fair and square with something infinitely more precious than silver and gold. Neither did Jesus suffer on the cross just to buy you a weekend pass out of Egypt. His blood secured your complete and eternal redemption (Heb 9:12).

Jesus’ blood has paid your sin-debt in full. Even when you stumble and make mistakes you still belong to Jesus. The devil has absolutely no claim on you. When he reminds you of your shortcomings, remind him of the perfect blood that redeemed you and purchased your perpetual and everlasting freedom.

(3) Jesus’ blood brought you forgiveness and reconciliation with God

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13)

Growing up enslaved to sin you were serving in the enemy’s camp earning the wages of death. For as long as you resisted God’s gracious overtures, even your good deeds were storing up wrath for the Day of Judgment. You were born far from God and nothing you did could ever close that gap.

But Jesus became our atonement, bringing us reconciliation with God (1 Jn 2:2). By shedding his own blood, Jesus secured our pardons from death row (Heb 9:22). Forgiveness is not something we have earned. It is a divine gift, paid for with blood. All your sins – past, present and future – were forgiven at the cross (Col 2:13).

Some say there are limits and conditions to God’s forgiveness. They say that we are only forgiven if we straighten up and fly right. That is like saying the blood of Jesus is inadequate, that God himself needs our help. But the Bible says we are redeemed and forgiven “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph 1:7). When you do well, you are forgiven. When you don’t do so well, you are still forgiven! There is no flashing sign above your head that switches between “forgiven” and “unforgiven.” Look up and see the blood of Jesus.

What sets you straight with God? The blood plus nothing. What is your proper response to this gift of forgiveness? Rejoice! “Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven, whose sins are pardoned!” (Rms 4:7, GNB). You are forgiven! Be happy!

(4) Jesus’ blood cleanses, and goes on cleansing you, from all the effects of sin

“…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin and guilt” (1 Jn 1:7b, AMP)

Sin has a corrupting, defiling influence. Even long-ago sin leaves festering wounds and putrescent lesions on the soul. Before the cross your lab report testified to the symptoms of sin: guilt, regret, disappointment, hurt, stress, fear, anxiety and sickness.

Thank God for the blood of Jesus which washes away all that black history, making you white as snow (Is 1:18). Jesus doesn’t do patch-up jobs. He deals with the root cause by removing our condemnation. Our hearts have been sprinkled and our guilty consciences cleansed (Heb 10:22). When we make mistakes Jesus, the Righteous One, intercedes for us and the Holy Spirit convicts us that we are still the righteousness of God in Christ (1 Jn 2:1). This is not merely a new start, but a whole new life.

(5) Jesus’ blood sanctifies you

“My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place.” (Heb 10:19 CEV)

Jesus doesn’t just point us in the right direction and leave us to our own devices, he takes care of the finish as well. His blood both cleanses us, redeeming our past, and sanctifies us, guaranteeing our present and future (Heb 9:13-14). In times of need we can approach the throne of grace fearlessly and boldly to receive grace and mercy (Heb 4:16). What qualifies us to enter God’s presence and enjoy his blessings? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The moment we are saved our official status before God becomes “perfect forever” (Heb 10:14). A day-old Christian who has done nothing for Jesus can have the same confidence before God as a Billy Graham or a Charles Spurgeon. Where does this confidence come from? The perfect sanctifying blood of Jesus.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

At the last supper Jesus took the cup and announced a new covenant based on his blood. If the disciples had known then what they learned later, they would’ve rejoiced, for God was on the verge of reconciling the world to favor with himself. It was the gospel in a cup!

Communion in many churches is a time of somber reflection. It ought to be a time of celebration and joy! The blood represented by that cup paid for your freedom, secured your pardon, brought you forgiveness with God and made you holy and acceptable. Neither should we limit communion to church. When you’re sick, take communion and remember with faith his body broken for your healing. When you stumble, take communion and remember with faith his blood shed for your forgiveness. Jesus is not condemning you – he died for you! Go and sin no more.

Some people compare following Jesus to an endurance race. This makes it sound like our success depends on our effort. Okay, but before we nullify the grace of God by trusting in our own works, let me ask you this. What qualifies you to run the race? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What is it that keeps you in the race? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And at the finish line when they ask what enabled you to overcome to the very end, even in the face of death, what will be your testimony then?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!