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 Friday the 20th of October…..why ask for forgiveness yet keep your eye and hand…..Ephesians 1 v 7

In the previous two DIGs we have looked at sections of the Word where we, as New Covenant born again believers, do not take the words of Jesus literally.

The second one about plucking out our eye and cutting our hand off is from the Sermon on the Mount, and our next ‘difficult’ passage also comes from there.

The strange thing however is that most of the church seems to want to take this passage literally.

I am talking about Matthew 6 v 14 and 15, where Jesus talks about forgiveness.

This is spoken to Jews living under the Law, and Jesus is ‘raising the bar’ (once again) showing that it is impossible to get yourself right with God in your own strength.

This is exactly the same as He did with regards to telling people to cut off their hand or pluck out their eye.

Yet we have believers happily asking for forgiveness in order to be forgiven, yet not plucking out eyes or cutting off hands!

This is just silly, especially when we read other New Covenant scriptures about forgiveness.

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

We can only forgive others as we have been forgiven first by God (Ephesians 4 v 32).

If these New Covenant scriptures are true is Jesus just confused asking for us to forgive others first?

No He is not, He is using this as a picture of our inability to be made righteous through works, and how we can only be made righteous through faith in Him.

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 of his grace

DIG for Friday the 1st of September…..don’t get dragged into trying to live by an Old Covenant principle…..Ephesians 1 v 7

I just never learn with regards to some things!

In the hotel this afternoon I had on a Christian TV channel, but had to switch it off very quickly.

It got switched off when a ‘famous’ teacher started telling me I had to humble myself, pray, seek His face and turn from my wicked ways and then God would forgive me (2 Chronicles 7 v 14).

So why did I switch off; because I did not want to listen to mixture, to listen to a Biblical concept that is not meant for me to live by today.

If you think you can do anything to receive forgiveness you are saying you have not been forgiven yet.

If you think you can do anything to receive forgiveness you are living in unbelief and do not understand the truths about law and grace, about the Old and New Covenant.

If you think you can do anything to receive forgiveness you do not really understand what Jesus did at the cross.

Forgiveness from God is a done deal; we were forgiven through, and only through, the shed blood of Jesus, and Jesus has already shed His blood.

Doing something to receive forgiveness is an Old Covenant principle and is not for those living under grace (Romans 6 v 14).

You cannot do anything today to receive forgiveness as you have already been forgiven through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

There is however a couple of things you do need to do with regards to forgiveness; you need to thank God for it, you need to believe this truth and you need to receive it.

Forgiveness is a done deal, the church needs to stop living as if we are under the Old Covenant and start living as if we understand the Covenant that we now live under.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have already been forgiven for all my sin, past, present and future”.

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

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 7th of July…..so what about 1 John 1 v 9 then…..Ephesians 4 v 32

When talking about forgiveness the other verse I hear about time and time again is 1 John 1 v 9.

Now to be fair, this does seem like one (and only one) verse post-cross that seems to talk about forgiveness being conditional for the believer.

It seems to be saying that we need to confess our sins in order to be forgiven.

How can this be if I teach that forgiveness flowed at the cross with the blood of Jesus?

Well, if you take a closer look at the context of this verse you should be able to see that this is not a verse for the born again believer.

This part of the epistle talks about people not in fellowship with the Lord (verse 6 and not in the light (verse 7).

This part of the epistle is talking to people not in relationship with God, i.e. not believers.

In this context I feel that 1 John 1 v 9 could be talking about the conversion (or salvation) experience; if a person confesses their sin (that is agree with God about their sin) they will benefit from the process of forgiveness.

This is not about confessing (or speaking out and being sorry) about your sin; how could it be, what if you forgot about one or missed one?

Forgiveness is unconditional; it flowed at the cross.

We do not need to do anything to be forgiven.

Please do not build a doctrine out of this verse, confession (in the wrong way people think about it) and repentance (old covenant style) for sin is not for you!

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

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 Thursday the 6th of July…. so what about the Sermon on the Mount #02…..Ephesians 4 v 32

If you read the DIG yesterday you would have seen how I answered the question about the order of forgiveness with regards to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.

I said He was speaking to Jews pre-cross, therefore not speaking literally to you as a believer living under grace.

This is not good enough for some people, who have the attitude that if Jesus said it we do it.

They however seem to change their stance when I point them to another section of the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus said we should pluck out our eye and cut of our right hand if they “offend thee” (Matthew 5 v 29 and 30).

Now I don’t know anyone who has never taken something that did not belong to them or never looked lustfully at another person.

Yet I do not see many one eyed and one-handed Christians in church!

Jesus is speaking in pictures during this discourse, with the main picture being that man can never uphold the law in their own strength.

He is saying we can never do these things on our own; we cannot forgive all others, we cannot live a sinless life.

He is “raising the bar” even higher with regards to the standards of behaviour expected under the law.

For example even thinking about adultery is now an offence (Matthew 5 v 27 and 28).

Jesus is showing we can never live up to the law, hence the need for a Saviour, He is not meaning for us to take these things literally.

We cannot pick and choose; if you think you have to forgive others before God will forgive you, you really should pluck out your eye and cut of your hand.

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

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 Tuesday the 4th of July…..We have already been forgiven…..Ephesians 4 v 32

Yesterday I wrote about forgiveness and reconciliation, and it is my ‘doctrine’ on these truths that cause me most debates with other Christians.

For some reason (probably traditions of men and lies of the enemy) many in the church are still asking God for forgiveness.

However it is a clear Biblical truth that forgiveness is a done deal; it flowed at the cross along with the blood of Jesus.

Jesus came to bring reconciliation from God (Luke 2 v 14) and this could only be provided if sin was dealt with and forgiveness flowed.

But what about the Sermon on the Mount and what about 1 John 1 v 9 I hear you cry?

Well, I can answer those questions in a later DIG.

And I would also say what about the post-cross Scriptures that show God forgave us first!

After preaching about forgiveness at a meeting one night a woman said this to me, “I really like you Vic but I cannot believe what you said about forgiveness”.

So I asked if she would like to have a coffee together where we could discuss the Scriptures pertaining to forgiveness; unfortunately that was not for her!

As Andrew Wommack once said, “Most Christians don’t let the Bible get in the way of what they believe”.

We must be guided by the Bible for all aspects of our faith and Christian walk, especially with regards to vital truths around forgiveness, reconciliation and righteousness for example.

God forgave us all even before we were born; He forgave mankind at the cross.

Jesus paid for our sin and the sin of the whole world in His once and for all sacrifice on the cross (1 John 2 v 2).

There is now no need to ask God for forgiveness ever again.

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

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 Thursday the 23rd of February…..there is only one way in which forgiveness flows…..Ephesians 1 v 7

I have been studying the topic of forgiveness in order to preach on Ephesians 1 v 7 this weekend.

Along with righteousness, forgiveness is one of my favourite truths in the Bible.

I love the fact that the forgiveness for sin has nothing to do with my performance.

I continually give thanks to God for my forgiveness and that it is received through the work of Jesus.

Scripture is very clear as to how forgiveness for sin is received.

Forgiveness is not given unless blood is shed (Hebrews 9 v 22).

Forgiveness for the sin of men is given through the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

There is no other way that a man can be forgiven; forgiveness only comes through the blood of Jesus.

This is the only way in the “apostle’s doctrine” that I can see man forgiven.

We were forgiven at the cross almost two thousand years ago.

Forgiveness could not be dependant upon our performance as forgiveness flowed long before we were even born.

Yes, we may not have receive the benefits of forgiveness until we came to faith, but we were all reconciled and forgiven at the cross; that is a Biblical fact.

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 of his grace