God offers forgiveness for our sins. We, however, have to accept His gift. This daily devotional reviews our response to God’s forgiveness as well as the rewards we receive.
Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series
All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.
We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.
I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.
Everyone who genuinely approaches Jesus with a true request for salvation will hear His forgiveness. His mercy is ready for us (Salvation from the Cross).
Our Response to God’s Forgiveness
- When we are disobedient, we have to confess our sins and repent in order to earn God’s forgiveness (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- We break our covenant with God by disobeying Him. When we do, we need to ask forgiveness and repent (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).
- We don’t have to clean up our acts before God forgives us. That comes after when we are working out our salvation (How Do We Benefit from Being God’s People?).
- Unfortunately, we sometimes don’t forgive ourselves. Many times, we don’t forget. That is one reason we need ongoing purification (How Do Awe Benefit from Being God’s People?).
- We don’t have to feel guilty once we have asked God’s forgiveness. But that is hard to do, sometimes, isn’t it? God may have forgiven us, but we haven’t forgiven ourselves (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
- We show our devotion to God in the way we approach Him in prayer. We need to approach Him as Sovereign God on His throne. Our attitude is as forgiven sinners asking – again – for forgiveness (Devoted to Prayer).
- No, we won’t be perfect. We will still sin even after conversion. So, we have to keep asking God to forgive us of our sins (Sins against God).
- We may feel like our sins are too big or too bad for God to forgive. That is not true. There is only one sin that God will not forgive — and that is unbelief (Sins against God).
- Spiritual meekness talks about our relationship with God. We need to be submissive and let Him control us. We aren’t supposed to talk back and try to tell Him we know better than He does. We are to change our lives to imitate Him. We are to make Him the priority in our lives. We are to be kind and gentle with others, not argumentative. We are to forgive others, as He forgave us (How Are Disciples Humble?).
- If we are children of God, that means we obey Him. We do the do’s and don’t do the don’ts — to the best of our ability while in these earthly bodies. We are going to mess up, but we need to ask forgiveness and strive to obey (How Are Disciples Peacemakers?).
- A pious person knows that communication with God is essential. We want to keep in contact with God. We want to praise and glorify His Name. We acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord. We ask for forgiveness of our sins. We want His guidance in our lives. We acknowledge our dependence on Him (What Is Piety?).
- A righteous person isn’t going to get it right all of the time. When we don’t, we have to ask forgiveness (What Is Righteousness?).
- Yes, we are changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive at conversion. But it is also a process that happens for the rest of our lives to change us to what will ultimately culminate in our being spiritual beings. It doesn’t give us license to continue to sin. We have to have true repentance. Also, this does not mean we don’t have to submit to God — that He will just automatically forgive everyone without repentance (What Is Righteousness?).
- Because we continue to sin, we have to pray every day for forgiveness. Since we have to choose every day to obey God, we have the opportunity to sin daily. While the initial forgiveness of our sins changes us from spiritually dead to spiritually alive, it isn’t a once and done for subsequent sins (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- Christianity is really about praying for and asking forgiveness for our enemies. The forgiveness is based on the love we find in Jesus. We are to imitate Jesus. That would include being forgiving to others (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- Forgiveness and grace. Isn’t that exactly how we are supposed to interact with others — with forgiveness and grace? (How Are Disciples Supposed to Treat People?).
- We are not entitled to God’s love and forgiveness. There is nothing about us that could earn His favor. It is all about His grace (Salvation from the Cross).
- We are no longer responsible for the penalty of sin. Because of that, it no longer has a hold on us. We just think it does. How many times do we tell ourselves, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Rom. 7: 24 NLT). Satan does a good job getting us to doubt that we have been forgiven. When we believe, we have to believe it all. Yes, Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose. But also I was a sinner, Jesus died for me, God forgive me, I am a new me (What Does It Mean to be Crucified with Christ?).
- We have to make sure those we are witnessing to know that we must be sincere when approaching God for salvation. They must acknowledge that they are spiritually dead and will remain that way without Christ’s sacrifice and God’s forgiveness (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
The Rewards of Forgiveness
- When God has forgiven us of our sins and made us spiritually alive again, our rewards are huge. The wealth of this world is dwarfed (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- Bottom line, every good comes from God. He gives us life, forgiveness, salvation, guidance through the Holy Spirit, moral excellence, strength, hope, and eternal life (Goodness as a Virtue).
Examples of Forgiveness
- David had a solid prayer life. We can tell that by the number of prayers recorded in the Bible. Most are in Psalms, but there are some in the books of Chronicles and Samuel also. One thing is for sure. We know that David prayed through whatever he was experiencing. Take Psalm 86 for example. It is a prayer for mercy. David, like Moses, asks for God to “teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Ps. 86: 11 CSB). Other prayers are for forgiveness (Ps. 51) and praise (I Chron. 29: 10-20) (What Is Prayer?).
- But the Pharisee wasn’t devoted to prayer because he made the prayer all about himself. The tax collector knew he was still a sinner after conversion — he was just a forgiven sinner (Devoted to Prayer).
- The Bible also tells us of a time when the Pharisees accused a woman and brought her to Jesus for sentencing. The Pharisees had brought a woman to Jesus that had been caught in the act of adultery. Yes, it is a Ten Commandments law: “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20: 14 NIV). Yes, the woman was forgiven, but she wasn’t told to keep on keeping on. She was told to “… go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (Jn. 8: 11 CSB) (The Lenient Judgment of Others).
- God is the God of order. He expects us to regularly serve Him. That includes telling others of His love and forgiveness (Putting Feet to the Plan of Salvation).
- Repentant dude didn’t say anything about this life. He didn’t mention getting taken down off the cross or staying alive. He saw that He was without a relationship with God. He realized the error of his ways. He saw God could and would forgive him — if he asked in belief (Salvation from the Cross).
Forgiveness and the Churchy Words
- The elect are only those who have been forgiven of their sins (What is Election?).
- Because of God’s infinite grace, He devised the Plan of Salvation that made Jesus our Redeemer in order to forgive us of our sins (How the Righteousness of God Filters to Us).
- We still have to access God’s grace by asking Him to forgive us (Can God See Us If We Are Sinners?).
- Mercy is more than forgiveness and kindness and goes beyond sorrow at other’s suffering (How Are Disciples Merciful?).
- What the Holy Spirit teaches us also gives us peace. Our sins are forgiven. God will never leave us. Jesus is preparing for His return to take us home (Who Is the Holy Spirit?).
- God’s love for us promotes that peaceful feeling within us. We know we can come to Him anytime — for forgiveness, for protection, for assurance (What Are the Fruits of Righteousness?).
- It is only through God’s love are we made perfect. It is through Him we are delivered from our enemies and given every spiritual blessing. Yet, this is only the beginning. All our sins are forgiven. All our mistakes have been forgotten. The slate is wiped clean. We get a chance to start over, a change to begin anew. Yes, this is only the beginning. Our sins have been forgiven, but we have some obligations toward God. We are to seek the things of the Sprit (Rom. 8: 5). We must learn wisdom and mature (1 Cor. 2: 6). We must seek the true bread given to us by our Father (John 6: 32). The most important thing is this: we must seek Him with a sincere heart (Heb. 10: 22) (Out with the Old; In with the New).
- God doesn’t give us just one chance. He gives us multiple chances. He will forgive us when we don’t perform perfectly (When We Settle for Less than God’s Promises).
- Redemption allows us to receive forgiveness for our sins (Aren’t We All Children of God?).
- Repentance is necessary. If the repentance doesn’t happen, the forgiveness doesn’t happen. It can’t be empty words. It has to be real (Is Repentance Necessary?).
- The characteristics of one who has been sanctified are the following: having asked God for His salvation and having been granted His forgiveness, entirely surrendering ourselves to His Will, dedicating our lives to obedience to God’s laws and commandments, purging sin from our lives, renewing our minds (Rom. 12: 2), being perfected, and producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23) (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- Being sanctified means we don’t have to feel guilty about previous sins. God has forgiven us and set us on a new path (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- We are sanctified because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He died so that we could be forgiven and made new creatures — those who are holy, sanctified, and righteous (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
- No, repentant guy didn’t say “forgive me of my sins.” That is the way, however, that Jesus instructed us in His model prayer to ask for forgiveness. “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Mt. 6: 12 NLT) (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
As sinners, we are in need of forgiveness. As disciples who continue to sin, we are in need of forgiveness. God will forgive us when we genuinely ask.
Father. We need Your forgiveness. We need Your pardon so that we can come into Your presence. We admit we are separated from You and break Your laws and commandments. We believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer and confess You as our Sovereign God. Grow us to be more like You. Amen.
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