God is Sovereign God, but He loves us and wants to reestablish relationships with us. This means we must be forgiven for disobeying Him, which caused the separation. This daily devotional reviews what forgiveness is and isn’t and the extent of God’s forgiveness.
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.
We needed God’s forgiveness because all of us have sinned (Rom. 3: 23). It constitutes a change in our character that is achieved through sanctification (How the Righteousness of God Filters to Us).
What Is Forgiveness?
Forgiveness is when God pardons us because we have broken His laws and commandments and restores our relationship with Him. We accept the pardon by letting go of the guilt and remorse that we feel because we have done something wrong. It is a conscious decision to accept His forgiveness.
- God is a loving, forgiving God. He will forgive us when we sincerely admit our sins, believe in Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confess Him as Sovereign God (Can We Really Identify God’s Wrath?).
- Because He is all-knowing (I Jn. 3:20), God knew man was going to disobey Him. He put the Plan of Salvation in place so that He could forgive us and redeem us. That plan was the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (Completion from the Cross).
- By His blood being shed, our sins are forgiven when we ABCD (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
- Salvation is based on forgiveness. God will forgive all but one sin — even multiple times. That is how much He loves us (Where Is Jesus?).
- When we believe in Jesus, we are pardoned. God forgives us of our sins (The Witness of the Spirits).
- The redemption part only comes from God. But we’ve got to ask God for forgiveness. We have to show Him that we are genuinely sorry and are willing to change whatever needs changing (Is Repentance Necessary?).
- The Holy Spirit is the One Who convicts. God is the One Who gives the forgiveness. We just tell how the message has impacted us (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
- God will forgive our sins if we confess them to Him as Sovereign God (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
- We can’t secure forgiveness of our sins by ourselves. All we can do is have the faith that Jesus could — and can — save us (Did Jesus or His Blood Redeem Us?).
- God wants us to get back to where Adam and Eve were before the original sin, which we can through grace. The only way that is going to happen is we die or be called home – and if we have asked and He has forgiven us of our sins (Is God really in Control Right Now?).
- Once we approach Jesus for salvation, we are to believe that Jesus intercedes for us. He is presenting us to His Father so that God can forgive us of our sins (How Do We Believe in Jesus?).
- Jesus is the Priest to Whom we can go to ask forgiveness (Who Is Jesus as God?).
- God allows us to come to Him when we mess up and ask forgiveness (When We Settle for Less than God’s Promises).
- There is only one sin God won’t forgive. That is when we grieve the Holy Spirit. We do that by not ABCDing (Sins against God).
- God knew before He created us that we would be disobedient. When we are disobedient, we have to confess our sins and repent in order to receive God’s forgiveness. God was always planning on forgiving us. His goal has always been being reunited with mankind. He knows we will keep on sinning while we are in these earthly bodies. But 1) we have to ask forgiveness. And 2) Just because it is only hunger and thirst, we can’t minimize it. So, #1 first. God doesn’t want us to feel like such failures that we give up. God wants us to keep trying and working on growing closer to Him. He knows we are going to have fits and starts at first. He also knows we are going to run into problems. He is looking for us to choose Him. But #2, we can’t believe that we can purposefully go ahead and keep sinning. We are supposed to strive for righteousness (How Do Disciples Crave Righteousness).
- God has no problem forgiving us when we genuinely ask for forgiveness. But we have to ask and be active in turning away from the sin (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- When we pray and sincerely ask for forgiveness and start obeying God, He will delight in us. God — in all of His mercy — forgives us when we ask. Nothing is too big. Nothing is too small. God forgives all of our sins — when we admit that He is Sovereign God (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- What is God looking for in repentance? He is looking for us too acknowledge that the sin was against Him. He wants us to be sorry that we committed that sin (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- Jesus’ mission was to establish forgiveness for sin, so Jesus prayed for man’s forgiveness (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- Jesus didn’t say a whole lot while He was up on the cross. Or at least, not much was recorded. But that gives what Jesus said that much more importance. It is believed that Jesus uttered the “Father, forgive them” words soon after He was suspended from the cross, when it would hurt the most. Those few short words encapsulated His whole reason for coming and being our sacrifice (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- The innocent Man died for all mankind. The kingdom of God beat the kingdom of darkness. But all mankind includes everyone — even Tom, Sally, and Elaine. So, when Jesus was interceding for forgiveness, it was for you and me, too (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- Jesus, being Jesus, prayed for man. His main mission was to be God on Earth. It was to establish forgiveness for sin, so Jesus prayed for man’s forgiveness. Jesus had to forgive them. He had to die (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- Yes, Jesus asked that they be forgiven this sin — His execution. He didn’t give them a blanket all-your-sins-are-forgiven pardon (Prayers for Forgiveness from the Cross).
- If all repentant dude heard about Jesus and His mission was “Father, forgive them,” Jesus was preaching while hanging on the cross. Jesus had to be ready to witness (Salvation from the Cross).
What Forgiveness Isn’t
- People might see this only as having to “give up” sins that they really don’t want to give up. True, we are told to turn away from our sins. But what we gain is so much more when we ask Jesus to be our Savor and God our Sovereign Lord. We gain a Guide through this life, forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life (How Do We Profit from Scriptures?).
- You made your decision. You chose not to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Why do you think you will get out of suffering the consequences? God can’t forgive that (Can God See Us If We Are Sinners?).
- God automatically removes the consequences of sin — spiritual death and separation from God — when we ABCD. God does not withdraw the results of sin – poverty, crime, disease, death just to name a few – after we are forgiven. We are going to have to deal with those until Jesus comes back for us. We’re not going to escape the punishment (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
- Satan tries to tell us that God will not forgive that sin — or worse — He won’t forgive us. Don’t believe Satan’s lies! (Does God Really Forgive and Forget Sin?).
- God does not get tired of hearing our forgive-me prayers. How do we know? If he expects us to forgive others seventy times seven times (Lk. 17: 3-4), won’t He forgive us even more? (Devoted to Prayer).
The Extent of God’s Forgiveness
- Think back to when we admitted that we were sinners, believed Jesus was our Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as our Sovereign Lord. How did we feel? Pumped, weren’t we? I mean, our sins were forgiven. Our future was secured. Our God loves us (How Do We Lose Our First Love?).
- We many times just see God as a forgiving God. We think He is just always going to forgive us — some of us think whether we ask or not. I see God as a loving and forgiving God. He knows we aren’t going to be perfect, but He calls us to be. Still, God has His boundaries. If we don’t try, we slip to the far from the perfect side. Maybe some of us feel that, because God gives us or allows the consequences to happen, He hasn’t forgiven us. It doesn’t work that way. God will correct us if we deserve it (Have We Lost Our First Love?).
Gracious Heavenly Father. We have sinned and fall short of Your glory. To address that, You have designed the Plan of Salvation. We admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign God. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Gracious Heavenly Father. We have sinned and fall short of Your glory. To address that, You have designed the Plan of Salvation. We admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign God. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
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