How are Sins Forgiven

How Do I get my sins forgiven

“This is my son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Matthew 17:5 – forgiveness from God comes by believing in Jesus. That is all the work we do to be saved, as Jesus told the disciples and that still stands today. Jesus paid the price for all our sin on the cross at Calvary so that we could be free from the wrath of God. When we believe in Jesus, we receive the promises God testified to, through His prophets and apostles. So determined was God to save humanity that He sent His only begotten son into the world to die the death we deserved and would receive, so whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

But How do we get forgiveness for sin?

When we believe in Jesus we are forgiven of sin. Sin is rebellion against the command of God. We are all born in sin because of the first man who was created by God on earth. But when we believe in Jesus and are born again through baptism, we become spiritual children of God. Your sin will no longer count against you, and on the merit of what Jesus did on the cross, you become a child of God. You are treated as a son or daughter by God and your sins are treated as that of His child. In short, your sins are wiped away, as far as the East is from the West, according to the word of God. If you commit new infractions when you believe, God corrects you as a father would a child, because God corrects those He loves (the many times David spoke of his delights in the rod of correction is real). He also helps us as we live our lives in faith and humility.

You will be corrected like a child when you do wrong, while your mind and heart are being renewed. But the decisions to follow the Lord’s commands will be yours just like the decisions to do wrong – It is a really good idea to follow the good nudging of your conscience and constrain “bad” impulses, which the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, will help you overcome.

That’s it?

That is it. Since we live in a world of sin and have the desires of our flesh and the temptations of the world, we may still make wrong decisions. Like children as we learn and grow in the spirit, we will be tempted to do any number of things and it does get ugly sometimes. But if you rely on the Spirit and Jesus then you will win and as you mature in the Spirit you will have greater resistance when you are tempted. Like everything else the work being done inside of us takes time, but we can make good choices freely.

So then I can do whatever I want to do?

As Paul laments in 1^st Corinthians 10:23; “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial”. For the full meaning of this, we only need to recall Jesus’ word in Matthew 7:21 “not everyone who says to me Lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven”. The elders say “The fear of God, that is wisdom – shunning evil, that is understanding”; this makes sense when it ferments in your mind long enough to become understanding. The short answer is, yes you can, but the consequences are yours.

You can do anything you want to do. You are free to live your life as you see fit, knowing your sins are forgiven when you believe in Jesus – born in Christ when you are baptized. But it is better to live a humble life of brotherly love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, humility, faithfulness, and peace. After you have been saved and received the spirit you are free to do as you please, but you may NOT want to purposefully continue to indulge sin – it may not end well. God loves those who show mercy and kindness; keep that in mind as you live.

Will you not sin again? I wish I could say no. Resisting sin is a daily, hourly struggle that we learn to overcome in Jesus. In Jesus, we are able to follow the good path because Jesus has overcome sin for us – Believing in Jesus gives us forgiveness of sin and eternal life; nothing else we ever do will.

The gist

When you believe the word of God and believe in Jesus you are forgiven by God. Your faith is the act of living in freedom and forgiveness. We confess Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and savior. Be baptized and do your best to live a humble peaceful and loving life. The Holy Spirit will do the rest. It will greatly benefit you to pick up the Bible and read it often – not just study the bits and pieces you get from sermons, but the whole Bible. When you apply yourself to the education God offers through the Bible, the words are far more beneficial to your heart and mind than any other bit of knowledge you will set your eyes on in this life. My Recommendation for a Bible is KJV (NKJV is good too) or the KJV with the Apocrypha. Mostly believe that your sins are forgiven. Trust that God has forgiven you because that is why He gave us Jesus as Lord and Savior.

There is no extra work or penalty because there is nothing you can do to save yourself. Believe in Jesus and you have done the work required because Jesus is the only salvation we are offered as a free gift of God’s grace.