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True Repentance and Forgiveness
"If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)
by Katie Stewart
True repentance ALWAYS has a depth of love
for the LORD where sins are freely admitted and sorrow has no face-saving limits.
- Luke 7:41-48
"There was a certain creditor which had
two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing
to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell Me therefore, which of them will love
him most? Simon
answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And He said unto him,
Thou hast rightly judged. And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this
woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: but she hath
washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest Me no
kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil
thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto
thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven."
The LORD Jesus gives us His authority to
forgive sin. His authority, His forgiveness, His rules.
- Matthew 18:18
"Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
But forgiveness is given only after repentance-
not before. His authority, His forgiveness, His rules.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
"If My people, which are called
by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
- Luke 17:3-4
"Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother
trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass
against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying,
I repent; thou shalt forgive him."
- 1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
- Jeremiah 36:3
"It may be that the house of Judah will
hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man
from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."
- 2 Chronicles 6:36-39
"If they sin against Thee, (for there
is no man which sinneth not,) and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them over
before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; Yet if they bethink
themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto Thee
in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have
dealt wickedly; If
they return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land
of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their
land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which Thou hast chosen,
and toward the house which I have built for Thy Name:
Then hear Thou from the heavens, even from
Thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause,
and forgive Thy people which have sinned against Thee."
- Psalm 86:5
"For Thou, LORD, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee."
- Exodus 34:7
"Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty."
- Acts 26:18
"To open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith
that is in me."
- Matthew 18:23-27
"Therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened
unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon,
one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not
to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that
he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant
was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."
- Joshua 24:15-27
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve
the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered
and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; For the LORD our
God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us
in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: And the LORD drave
out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore
will we also serve the LORD; for He is our God. And Joshua said unto the people,
Ye cannot serve the LORD: for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God; He will
not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods,
then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that He hath done you good. And the people said
unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses
against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve Him. And they said,
We are witnesses. Now
therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your
heart unto the LORD God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will
we serve, and His voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and
set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of
the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was
by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone
shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which He
spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God."
True repentance is ALWAYS followed by the
fruit of obedience.
- Acts 2:38
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
- 1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the Light, as
He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
If you refuse to forgive others, then He
will not forgive you. No mercy shall be measured to you. His authority, His forgiveness,
His rules.
- Matthew 6:12-15
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. For
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
God gives us space to repent. But if we waste that
opportunity, we prove we are not His.
- Matthew 18:15-17
"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass
against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear
thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect
to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let
him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican."
God is not mocked. God will not always be longsuffering.
- Psalm 78:34-42
"When He slew them, then they sought Him:
and they returned and inquired early after God.
And they remembered that God was their Rock,
and the high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth,
and they lied unto Him with their tongues.
For their heart was not right with Him, neither
were they stedfast in His Covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir
up all His wrath. (Notice the LORD accepted
their confession of sin, and forgave them accordingly, even though He divinely foreknew
them to be insincere. They were sorry they were being punished. They were not sorry
that they hurt Him with their sin.) For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that
passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve
Him in the desert! Yea,
they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not
His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy."
- Psalm 78:56-64
"Yet they tempted and provoked
the most high God, and kept not His Testimonies:
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like
their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to
anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this,
He was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent which He placed among men; And delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory
into the enemy's hand. He gave His people over also unto the sword; and was wroth
with His inheritance. The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given
to marriage. Their
priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation."
- Jeremiah 18:23
"Yet, LORD, Thou knowest all their
counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot
out their sin from Thy sight, but let them be overthrown before Thee; deal thus with
them in the time of Thine anger."
- Isaiah 2:8-9
"Their land also is full of idols; they
worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man
boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself [to their idols]: therefore forgive
them not."
When man sins, and then refuses the convicting
power of the Holy Spirit to repent of it, this sin is the sin of blasphemy, thus
making it unforgivable. At this point in a person's life, should breathe fail to
fill their lungs, or their heart fail to beat, their eternal soul would plummet to
its punishment.
- Luke 12:10
"And whosoever shall speak a word against
the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the
Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."
- Mark 3:29
"But he that shall blaspheme against the
Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."
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