What Saith the Scripture?
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True Repentance and Forgiveness
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)
by Katie Stewart
9-21-98
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True repentance ALWAYS has a depth of love for the
LORD where sins are freely admitted and sorrow has no face-saving limits.
- Luke 7:41-48 "There
was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and
the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
Tell Me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he, to whom he forgave most. And He said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: but she hath washed My feet
with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest Me no kiss: but
this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with
oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much:
but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And He said unto her, Thy
sins are forgiven."
The LORD Jesus gives us His authority to forgive
sin. His authority, His forgiveness, His rules.
- Matthew 18:18 "Verily
I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in
Heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
But forgiveness is given only after repentance- not
before. His authority, His forgiveness, His rules.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land."
- Luke 17:3-4 "Take
heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he
repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and
seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive
him."
- 1 John 1:9 "If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness."
- Jeremiah 36:3 "It
may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto
them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive
their iniquity and their sin."
- 2 Chronicles 6:36-39
"If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and Thou
be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them
away captives unto a land far off or near; Yet if they bethink themselves in the
land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto Thee in the land of
their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
If they return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the
land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward
their land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which Thou
hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Thy Name: Then hear Thou
from the heavens, even from Thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications,
and maintain their cause, and forgive Thy people which have sinned against
Thee."
- Psalm 86:5 "For
Thou, LORD, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them
that call upon Thee."
- Exodus 34:7 "Keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will
by no means clear the guilty."
- Acts 26:18 "To
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
- Matthew 18:23-27
"Therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto
him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his
lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that
servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."
- Joshua 24:15-27 "And
if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house,
we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should
forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; For the LORD our God, He it is that brought
us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which
did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went,
and among all the people through whom we passed: And the LORD drave out from before
us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also
serve the LORD; for He is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot
serve the LORD: for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods,
then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that He hath done you good.
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. And Joshua
said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you
the LORD, to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away,
said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD
God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve,
and His voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day,
and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words
in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under
an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people,
Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of
the LORD which He spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye
deny your God."
True repentance is ALWAYS followed by the fruit of
obedience.
- Acts 2:38 "Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost."
- 1 John 1:7 "But
if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
If you refuse to forgive others, then He will not
forgive you. No mercy shall be measured to you. His authority, His forgiveness, His
rules.
- Matthew 6:12-15 "And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
God gives us space to repent. But if we waste that opportunity,
we prove we are not His.
- Matthew 18:15-17
"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth
of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect
to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let
him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican."
God is not mocked. God will not always be longsuffering.
- Psalm 78:34-42 "When
He slew them, then they sought Him: and they returned and inquired early after God.
And they remembered that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless
they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with
their tongues. For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they stedfast
in His Covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed
them not: yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His
wrath. (Notice the LORD accepted their confession of sin, and forgave them accordingly,
even though He divinely foreknew them to be insincere. They were sorry they were
being punished. They were not sorry that they hurt Him with their sin.) For He remembered
that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft
did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert! Yea, they
turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered
not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy."
- Psalm 78:56-64 "Yet
they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not His Testimonies:
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside
like a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,
and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, He was wroth,
and greatly abhorred Israel: So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent which He placed among men; And delivered His strength into captivity, and
His glory into the enemy's hand. He gave His people over also unto the sword; and
was wroth with His inheritance. The fire consumed their young men; and their
maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows
made no lamentation."
- Jeremiah 18:23 "Yet,
LORD, Thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not
their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from Thy sight, but let them be overthrown
before Thee; deal thus with them in the time of Thine anger."
- Isaiah 2:8-9 "Their
land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which
their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth
himself [to their idols]: therefore forgive them not."
When man sins, and then refuses the convicting power
of the Holy Spirit to repent of it, this sin is the sin of blasphemy, thus making
it unforgivable. At this point in a person's life, should breathe fail to fill their
lungs, or their heart fail to beat, their eternal soul would plummet to its punishment.
- Luke 12:10 "And
whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but
unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."
- Mark 3:29 "But
he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in
danger of eternal damnation."
Holy Bible
