Does God forgive all sin if you repent? is the question most people usually don’t get answers to, and so I pray God to open our spiritual eyes to understand the mystery hidden in this sermon in Jesus name. Amen.
Most people are made to believe that there are certain sin that God cannot forgive.
Someone once told me that if you kill, no matter the nature of your repentance, God will never forgive you
And without much ado, let’s get staright to the point of this sermon; to find out the truth of this matter.
Does God forgive all sin if you repent?
The simple answer to the above question is yes, God forgives all sin; long as the sinner is willing to repent.
For proof of the answer to this question, let us take the apostle Paul, formerly Saul; who murdered and persecuted the early church; but later was converted by Christ and used for greater works.
And as Paul himself would say, he was used to set an example for others who would be living in sin; thinking there is no way God will ever forgive them.
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
And the grace of our Lord Jesus was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
(1 Timothy 1:12-16)
Repentance must precede forgiveness.
The most important fact about how to obtain God’s forgiveness is that, one must first resolve to repent. And repentance means turning away from your sinful ways as the bible verses about repentance and forgiveness below reveals:
Bible verses about repentance and forgiveness.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
(Isaiah 1:16-17)
“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14)
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:7)
Prayers and fasting as means of asking God for forgiveness.
And after repentance, one must go to God through prayers and fasting, to beg for His forgiveness. And that is what will make Him move quickly to forgive the sinner of whatever sin he committed.
He gives that assurance in the scripture below.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
(Isaiah 1:18)
God is merciful and compassionate.
Throughout the scriptures, God has always shown Himself as a merciful and compassionate Father; Who is always willing and ready to forgive whatever sin the children He created commits. He even promises never to forsake them in their sinfulness.
Bible verses about God’s mercy and compassion.
They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of your wonders that you did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But you are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.
(Nehemiah 9:17)
For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you.
(Psalm 86:5)
Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
(James 5:11)
Even though He punishes, He will afterwards restore the sinful.
“For thus says the LORD: “just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.
(Jeremiah32:42)
That is why He is called the Father of mercy:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
(2 Corinthians 1:3)
The Psalmist goes on to testify about how the earth is full of God’s mercy;
The earth, O LORD, is full of your mercy;
(Psalm 119:64)
Because, even if He plans to destroy people, once they repent, He will always take the punishment away from them:
The word which came from Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “arise and go down to the potter house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
Then the word of the LORD came to me saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
“the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, “if that nation against whom I have spoken turn from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring on it.
(Jeremiah 18:1-8)
How God forgave the people of Nineveh.
In Jonah 3, we see how God sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach and tell them about the destruction He has planned for them after forty days.
But when the people there heard this message, they repented and prayed; amidst fasting’s bathed in ashes, and God forgave them and repented of His earlier plan to destroy them.
And in one of His parables, Jesus likened God to a father who forgives his prodigal son; after years of wastrel in another person’s land. (Luke 15:11-32).
And the reason God always forgives is because, He doesn’t want anyone to perish, but wishes all to repent and attain salvation..
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
(1 Timothy 2:3-4)
That is why He delays in destroying the world which He had already destined to destroy.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9)
Jesus paid the price for all the sins of man.
Now, the most important fact about God’s forgiveness in this our generation is that God has done a great thing for us, which is sending His only begotten Son: our Lord Jesus Christ, to come and pay the final price – with His own blood – and buy us away from our sinfulness.
And it is very important to note that, this plan of salvation did not take God unawares because He had already planned it beforehand and revealed it to us when our first parents – Adam and Eve – sinned and after realizing they were naked, sowed fig leaves which they used to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7).
But God exchanged the fig leaves and rather used an animal skin to cover them. (Genesis 3:21).
The fig leaves symbolize the former sacrifice of burnt offering used for the ceremony of purification.
Hence, since fig leaves were many, meaning that God would be bored with too much burnt offering which is not capable of making the believers clean; He used just one animal skin to cover them.
Meaning that Jesus His Son, Jesus will be offered as just one sacrifice which will make atonement for the sins of all the human race.
(Note: one sin brought death; therefore, it is only one sacrifice that must bring redemption).
The blood of Jesus cleanses any sin.
So, in order for us to be free from our sins, we must approach God through the blood of Jesus and be cleansed, redeemed and saved, as it is written:
Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood He entered the most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
(Hebrews 9:12)
Because, through this sacrifice Jesus was able to reconcile us to God, who were separated from Him through the sin our first parents committed.
And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
(Collosians 1:20)
Only Jesus can forgive and save.
After this sacrifice all authority was given to Him to forgive and save everybody:
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
(Mathew 28:18)
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
(Acts 4:12)
And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
(Hebrews 5:9).
Therefore, in order for God to forgive anybody, that person must desist from committing sin; because is simply the thing that seperates human beings from God.
Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
(Isaiah 59:1-2)
And since God has given the power to His Son to forgive anyone, we must all then approach Him through His son, in order to be freed from the power of sin which all along has kept us as slaves.
Jesus answered them, “most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
(John 8:34-36)
Why you should not continue to sin after you repent.
Thus, the point is: whoever wants to be saved by Jesus must repent and afterwards sin no more.
Because repentance means we have crucified our old selves on the cross with Jesus; Who took it away to His grave and upon resurrection has obtained for us a new life, which is the life of righteousness.
We must henceforth live in order to be freed from the slavery of sin.
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
(Romans 6:6)
But it is however sad that to find so many Christians today claiming that Jesus had done it all for them on Calvary, and their continuing is sin does not count because they are now living by grace, but they forget what the scripture says:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
(Romans 6:1-2)
Therefore, all of us must live with the proper understanding that, Christ died in order to take sin forever out in our lives, which means we must never be found sinning again:
Who Himself bore our sins on His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by Whose stripes you were healed.
(1 Peter 2:24)
Who then can deceive us that there is a sin God can never forgive us, when the scripture concludes:
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Conclusion.
So, no matter what kind of sin you have committed in your life, know certainly that God is waiting right now for you to make that decision to depart from it and come to Him Who is able to forgive you as it is written:
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
(Acts 3:19).
Never ever forget the assurance He gave to us:
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
(Isaiah 1:18).
Please share this sermon to help someone out there answer this question, that is, does God forgive all sins if you repent?.
