Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a huge issue for everyone. None of us can forgive our own sins. Only God can do that. Therefore, when the Bible says that we won't be forgiven our sins, if we fail to forgive others, we need to pay close attention.(Matthew 6:15) Jesus was not exaggerating. He meant what He said. We need to be very serious about heeding this warning from the Lord Jesus, Himself.
Most of us know the Lord's Prayer and how Jesus tells us to pray for our debts to be forgiven us, as we forgive our debtors. The word debt is talking about sins. A debtor is a person who sins against us. It is in Jesus' explanation of the prayer that we read about how important it is for us to forgive others who sin against us. If we don't, He won't forgive us.
Now, that doesn't mean we lose our salvation. When we trust Christ, He forgives all of our sins, past, present, and future. The problem is that when we sin after we are saved, it affects our relationship with God, just like a husband who sins against his wife. He is still married to her. The marriage covenant is not broken, but until he seeks forgiveness, the closeness of their relationship is affected. That is why we must forgive others and seek forgiveness when we sin against others. Remember I John 1:9 in these situations. This verse is not speaking to unsaved people, but to believers. It says that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, as we confess them to Him, and then, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we don't confess our sins to Him after we are saved and He does not cleanse us, the stain of the sins builds up, so that we are farther and farther from God, like a married couple who never seek forgiveness, and they don't even talk out their problems.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 7-10.
Most of us know the Lord's Prayer and how Jesus tells us to pray for our debts to be forgiven us, as we forgive our debtors. The word debt is talking about sins. A debtor is a person who sins against us. It is in Jesus' explanation of the prayer that we read about how important it is for us to forgive others who sin against us. If we don't, He won't forgive us.
Now, that doesn't mean we lose our salvation. When we trust Christ, He forgives all of our sins, past, present, and future. The problem is that when we sin after we are saved, it affects our relationship with God, just like a husband who sins against his wife. He is still married to her. The marriage covenant is not broken, but until he seeks forgiveness, the closeness of their relationship is affected. That is why we must forgive others and seek forgiveness when we sin against others. Remember I John 1:9 in these situations. This verse is not speaking to unsaved people, but to believers. It says that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, as we confess them to Him, and then, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we don't confess our sins to Him after we are saved and He does not cleanse us, the stain of the sins builds up, so that we are farther and farther from God, like a married couple who never seek forgiveness, and they don't even talk out their problems.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 7-10.