DIG for Monday the 23rd of October…..is it a sin…..Colossians 1 v

I had quite a revelation about the way some of us in the church seem to think about forgiveness.

I had not planned to say this but during the message yesterday a thought came to me.

I thought and said, “Asking for forgiveness from God is a sin”.

Now you may think that is a bit harsh, but let me explain.

The Word is quite clear that forgiveness is a ‘done deal’ for the New Covenant believer (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

I am convinced by scripture that we, as born again believers, have already received forgiveness and benefited from that forgiveness.

I believe there are scriptures showing us pictures that we do not need to ask for forgiveness (see DIG from Saturday 21^st October).

So we do not need to ask God for forgiveness, for something He has already given us.

If we continue to ask for forgiveness from God we do not believe the scriptures, so do not believe God.

We are therefore operating in unbelief, contrary to the thoughts and will of God, which must therefore be sin.

It is not just the ‘horrible’ stuff like lying, stealing, cheating and fornicating for example that are sin, it is anything contrary to the thoughts and will of God.

So ask for something He has given us is sin, or maybe if you do not agree with that, it is extreme foolishness.

I will leave you to ponder this one, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the scriptures if you have issues with this DIG.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sin through the shed blood of Jesus”.

Colossians 1 v 14…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins

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DIG for Saturday the 21st of October…..did they ask for forgiveness…..John 8 v 11

Carrying on with my theme from yesterday I want you to look at a couple of encounters Jesus has with people in the Word.

Take the woman taken in adultery for instance (John 8 v 3 to 11).

We see Jesus accepting this woman and not condemning her (John 8 v 11).

Yes, we see Jesus telling her to sin no more, however this was after He accepted her.

Do we see the woman asking for forgiveness before His acceptance?

Now think about the thief on the cross (Luke 23 v 39 to 43).

The thief called Jesus Lord and asked for help (Luke 23 v 42), and Jesus said he would be with Him today i.e. after death (Luke 23 v 43).

Where in this account does the thief ask for forgiveness?

If there were any people who needed to ask for forgiveness surely it was an adulteress and fornicator and a convicted thief on a cross!

These are pictures for us today, showing us that we do not need to ask the Lord for forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a ‘done deal’, and not just for those of us in the church but for all men (1 John 2 v 2).

Forgiveness flowed for all and to all as His blood flowed down the cross (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

You are not required to ask the Lord for something He has already given you, simply thank Him for it.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sin, past, present and future, and that this forgiveness came solely through the shed blood of Jesus”.

John 8 v 11…..She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more

DIG for Monday the 21st of August…..cross for forgiveness for salvation…..Colossians 2 v 13

I’m back on one of my favourite topics this morning, forgiveness!

Reading Colossians 2 this morning I noticed this really important verse that confirms (yet again) that we have already received complete and unconditional forgiveness from God.

Colossians 2 v 13 says, “Having forgiven you all trespasses”.

Now before this verse Paul talks about our conversion process, what we were saved from and saved into (Colossians 2 v 10 to 13).

And just after his verse Paul talks about the finished work of Jesus on the cross (Colossians 2 v 14 and 15).

These verses explain when forgiveness was given and what the purpose of forgiveness was.

Forgiveness flowed at the cross as the blood of Jesus flowed (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

And forgiveness was given so that men might be saved and made righteous.

We were forgiven (past tense) at the cross so that we could choose to be saved and made righteous.

Forgiveness and reconciliation were prerequisites for men to be saved; forgiveness was an essential forerunner for salvation.

You did not do anything to be forgiven; you were forgiven long before you were even born.

It is the performance of Jesus that WAS important for forgiveness; no one is being forgiven today, that has already been done!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sins and trespasses, praise the name of Jesus”.

Colossians 2 v 13…..And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you of all trespasses

DIG for Sunday the 20th of August…..it is not about our actions, again…..Luke 23 v 34

As you probably know by now I am a great believer in our unconditional forgiveness from God.

My understanding of Scripture is that we are all forgiven for all sin already through the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

Forgiveness is nothing to do with us; we do not need to ask for forgiveness or repent of our sin in order to be forgiven.

Forgiveness is absolute and unconditional and was granted as a gift of grace by the Lord through the actions of Jesus.

In church this morning a brother spoke about another verse that highlighted this truth for me.

The verse was Luke 23 v 34, where Jesus asked the Father to forgive His persecutors, saying, “they know not what they do”.

He asked the Father to forgive them irrespective of their actions.

He asked the Father to forgive the very men who were putting Him to death.

If we believe much of what is said in church these days Jesus should have said this, “Father forgiven them if they change their ways and ask You for forgiveness”.

This shows us that forgiveness is a gift from the Father because of Jesus, and that forgiveness has nothing to do with our actions.

All the forgiveness that was ever needed flowed at the cross at the same time as the blood of Jesus flowed.

Forgiveness is a gift, you just need to believe this, receive it and thank Him for it!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have complete, absolute and unconditional forgiveness from because of the shed blood of Jesus”.

Luke 23 v 34…..Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Ad they parted his raiment, and cast lots

DIG for Friday the 18th of November…..you can forgive as you have been forgiven…..Ephesians 4 v 32

One of the hardest things that a person can do is forgive another for hurt done to them.

I know this from personal experience; I think we all do.

Forgiveness is not easy to give; yet we are told in the Word that we are meant to forgive other people.

In fact my understanding of Scripture is that we are to forgive all people for all things done against us.

Ephesians 4 v 32 tells us we are to be kind and tender and also to forgive others.

It also tells us how this is possible.

It is only possible through an understanding of how much God has forgiven us.

Through the shed blood of Jesus, through giving up His Son, God has already forgiven us for everything (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14- Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14)

Once we realise how much we have been forgiven we can forgive others.

If you are saying to me today, “I cannot forgive that person”, then you do not understand how much God has forgiven you.

You may be thinking that I do not know how big the hurt was against you, and that of course is true, however God knows and God has already forgiven that person for what they did to you.

The only person being hurt through your unforgiveness is yourself.

Release yourself today; forgive the person you know you need to forgive!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through the shed blood of Jesus I have already been forgiven for all my sin”.

Ephesians 4 v 32…..And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you

DIG for Monday the 14th of November…..only One can forgive, and He has already done so…..Ephesians 1 v 7

I heard an alarming report on the radio today about certain men being able to forgive, on God’s behalf, certain ‘bad’ sins.

The rules were being changed so that lower ranking clergy could now do this job, whereas before only bishops and the like could do such a thing.

I thought that I must have been imagining things, as this is absolute nonsense, but no I was not, I was listening to it with my own ears!

The Bible is very clear on this, men cannot forgive a person for their sin.

Nowhere in the Bible can this doctrine be shown to be true; this is a tradition of men warned about by Paul in Colossians 2 v 8.

God can only give forgiveness for sin.

And the good news is that all men have been forgiven for all sin already!

That is what Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14 says, that forgiveness flowed with the blood of Jesus.

Forgiveness is not coming or waiting to come, forgiveness has been delivered through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus dealt with all sin from all men once and for all at the cross (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14).

We do not need to go to any man to have our sins forgiven, no matter how ‘bad’ they are.

Forgiveness is a done deal because of Jesus and what He has done.

Rejoice tonight that you have been forgiven and give Him thanks.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sin through the shed blood of Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 7…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches if his grace

DIG for Tuesday the 18th of October…..but surely we need to ask for forgiveness…..Ephesians 1 v 7

I have been known to preach about forgiveness once or twice!

My usual point is that we have all already been completely and unconditionally forgiven for all our sins.

I can say this, as this is my understating of Scripture.

We are told we have already been forgiven through the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

We are told Jesus dealt with all sin for all time once and for all at the cross (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14).

Now, nearly every time I preach this I hear the same comment, and that is, “are you telling me I do not need to ask for forgiveness anymore?”

The answer to this is yes!

You do not need to ask for something you have already received.

Every man has been forgiven for every sin.

I am not saying every man has been saved, but all have been forgiven (and reconciled) thus opening the way for salvation.

So, we do not need to ask God for forgiveness, it is a done deal and something we already have.

We should thank Him and enjoy our forgiveness!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sins through the shed blood of Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 7…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his glory

DIG for Monday the 17th of October…..get the foundations strong before you build your building…..2 Timothy 2 v 15

At conference last week I heard a phrase that my wife had used in a sermon a number of years ago.

I want to share this with you tonight, as it is a phrase of real wisdom.

“The depth of your foundations will determine the height of your building”.

What this is saying is that if you want to really grow and develop in your Christian walk you need to put in place good fundamental teachings.

In order to grow you really need to understand the basic truths of the faith.

You need to know you have been unconditionally and completely forgiven through the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

You need to know that you have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5 v 18).

You need to know that as a believer you have complete acceptance from God and the unconditional approval of God; in other words you need to know that you are righteous.

And you need to know that were made righteousness as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus and not through your own works (Romans 3 v 28 and 2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

You need to know that God loves you unconditionally (1 John 4 v 10).

As you will see all the truths mentioned above have Scripture references, this tells us that all the fundamental and foundational truths we need to know are to be found in God’s Word.

Our responsibility is to find these truths, study and meditate upon them and then believe that they are relevant for us.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the many truths held within”.

2 Timothy 2 v 15…..Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

DIG for Wednesday the 27th of July…..forgiveness; an easy concept to understand, but sometimes not so easy to put into practice…..Luke 23 v 34

To me forgiveness is an easy doctrine and concept to understand; the Bible (through the words of Jesus as one example) is clear that we are to forgive people.

We are to forgive all people for all things they have done against us, our family, our friends and even our country; as a people we are supposed to forgive everyone for everything.

That is easy to understand but not so easy to implement.

We have all seen the senseless atrocities in mainland Europe that seem to be happening daily; as a minister and pastor my heart went out to Father Jacques Hamel and his fellowship the other day after his murder.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”, is what Jesus said; can we say that this evening, should we be forgiving those that perform these atrocities?

I know this will be hard for many; I’ve seen numerous “I can never forgive” and “I will never forgive” comments on social media in the last few days.

I believe that we can only truly forgive others once we realise how much we have been forgiven ourselves.

God the Father has given every man unconditional and absolute forgiveness for all sin and iniquity through the shedding of the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

We can only truly forgive when we know we have been forgiven first (Ephesians 4 v 32).

If we are struggling to give our forgiveness to others maybe we need a deeper revelation of our own forgiveness from God.

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord that through the blood of Jesus you have given me absolute, complete and unconditional forgiveness”.

Luke 23 v 34…..The said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots

DIG for Monday the 27th of June…..forgiveness is another truth we seem to have forgotten…..Ephesians 1 v 7

Another truth that many Christians seem to “forget” is that they have absolute, complete and unconditional forgiveness from God for all their sin.

There is a wave of wrong thinking in the church that tells us that we have to do something to be forgiven; we have to perform good works in order to receive forgiveness from God.

This is just not true.

You are forgiven, you have already been forgiven because of the performance of Jesus, because of His shed blood (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossian 1 v 14).

And the wonderful truth us that you have already been forgiven for all the sin you will commit in the future!

Now this is not a licence to sin of course, as sin has earthly consequences for you, your family and your friends.

But whatever you do wrong, whoever you hurt, you have to realise that you have already been forgiven and then move on.

God does not want you grovelling and begging for forgiveness; this actually shows that you cannot righty divide the Word, not realising what Jesus has already done for you.

Asking for forgiveness is not a sign of humility, it is a sign of arrogance and pride, thinking that you can do something yourself to achieve your forgiveness.

You are already forgiven because of Jesus and the shedding of His blood.

Thank Him for your forgiveness and enjoy your forgiveness.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you that I have already been forgiven for all my sin because of the shed blood of Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 7…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of this grace