People have said to me, “Pastor Prince, I was taught that only my past sins—from the day I was born until the day I became a Christian—have been forgiven, and that my future sins are not forgiven until I confess them and seek forgiveness.”
My friend, when Jesus died on the cross, how many of your sins were future?
Unless you are more than 2,000 years old, all your sins were future then! Jesus took them all upon Himself, nailed them to the cross and declared, “It is finished!” So if you are not forgiven of all, then you are not forgiven at all.
“You mean Jesus also died for the sin that I have just committed?”
Yes!
“And also for the sins which I will commit?”
Yes! That is why He said, “It is finished!”
But many of us are inconsistent in our believing. One part of us says, “God has forgiven me of all my sins.” But another part says, “Yes, but I must still confess my sins to be forgiven of them.” Are you like that?
Beloved, you are forgiven not because of your work of confession. Your confession cannot wash away your sins. You are forgiven because of the blood of Jesus shed for you. His blood alone cleanses you.
You cannot believe that you are forgiven of your past, present and future sins, and still think that there is something for you to do to make that forgiveness complete. If you do, then it becomes your work too, not Jesus’ alone.
Is there a place for confession of sins? My friend, if you have just sinned, you can always tell God about it without feeling condemned because you know that you already have forgiveness and that Jesus was condemned in your place. But you don’t confess your sins to God in order to be forgiven. You already have total and complete forgiveness because of the blood of Jesus!
"I'M HERE TO TELL YOU" EDITOR'S NOTE
So then, why would any Christian feel guilty about sin? That's a good question. How can you feel guilt about something that has been erased? Why would you feel bad and be sad about something you've done if it has been forgiven? Good question. Most Christians know that Jesus dying on the cross saved them because He paid the full price of their sins. Yet they live in sin-consciousness and guilt. They feel condemned for something that they truly know is gone. Why? Why? Why? Because we get in our own way. We think that we have to do something for Christ's salvation to stick. We have to be good so we aren't guilty. Listen. You being good wasn't how you were saved. You were saved because your substitute, Jesus was good and obedient and went to the cross to suffer and die in your place. Only The Just One had the power to save us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit He was raised from the dead to be the first born of a new and loving relationship. We Christians are a new creation, cleaned from sin, free from guilt and everlasting, that's Christianity. Today, thank the Lord above for His sacrifice and His substitution and His eternal love that makes us forever clean.
