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God Wants To Give You A Second Chance
Posted on Friday 29 January @ 17:09:43 |
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If there ever was a topic that should make you sit up and listen, it's this one.
God wants to give you another chance.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will purify us from all unrighteousness.
The context of this passage conveys living the Christian life with such confidence that we know God wants to forgive his children when they come clean before him.
Look with me at verses 7-10
of this passage in 1 John.
1 John 1:7-10
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
Note that John wrote this letter to believers. . This passage is talking to Christians.
It's very important because it isn't a promise to everyone but only to those who've committed their lives to Christ and are under the blood of the lamb.
But there's another reason I share that with you.
While we understand God's forgiveness when we become Christians, I think it becomes harder for us the longer we're Christians to understand it and accept it. After we give our lives to Jesus, we often struggle years later with knowing he can really forgive our sins.
Today, if you're a committed believer in Jesus Christ, I want you to grasp this truth. If we confess that we're sinners, God's grace will cover all our sins -- past, present, and future.
If you've never submitted your life to become a Christ-follower, today I want you to learn how you too can have your sins forgiven.
Why it's hard to accept God's forgiveness
We all seem to have an incorrect image of God. We see him as a policeman with a whistle in his hand or a big bully.
Maybe it's hard to accept his forgiveness because his grace is illogical to us. It doesn't make any sense why he'd love us unconditionally and forgive us. It's inconsistent with the way we feel. We don't "feel" forgiven so therefore we must not be forgiven.
Christ's forgiveness has no strings attached, no ulterior motives, no hidden agenda. It isn't for his benefit, it's for ours!
His nature is so different from ours.
He is so gracious
We do all kinds of things to diminish the seriousness of our sins. Subconsciously it's a way to hide our sin or convince ourselves we're okay. There are many ways in which we try to make ourselves look better than we actually are.
* We deny our sin and say,
"I don't really do that."
* We compare our sin and say,
"I'm not as bad as so-and-so."
* We excuse our sin and say,
"I'm just wired that way."
* We laugh about our sin and say,
"I can't help myself."
The Bible says this is self-deception.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
The truth is, you're a wretched sinner.
The truth is I'm a wretched sinner.
You say, "Oh now wait a second Paul, the Bible teaches that if I'm a Christian, I'm a saint."
Well that's true, because of the imparted righteousness of Christ, God looks at you on the Day of Judgment and sees the work of Jesus Christ. He won't see you because you're covered with Christ's blood.
Please understand that while God has made you a saint, you must be cognizant of the fact that you have the capacity to sin, even to sin in a terrible way. Realizing that reminds us, and is foundational to understanding his "Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like me."
That's why Paul could say, "There is no good which lives in me", and he refers to himself as the chief of sinners.
It's healthy to acknowledge your capacity to sin because that underscores the importance of walking in the light with Christ.
When you become a Christian, you won't live a sinless life, but through maturing in Christ and yielding your life to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will sin less.
God is faithful.
In other words, we can count on him.
His decisions are right and pure.
God is faithful to his word. If he says it, he means it, and he acts accordingly. He can't lie.
God is just. Just?
God is just to forgive?
You may not understand that.
Understand this. His justice demands that sin be paid for.
The penalty has already been paid!
When Christ went to the cross he settled my bill.
If I saw you at lunch somewhere, and I went over to your waitress and said, "I'd like to pick up their tab," she'd say, "Oh that's great."
I'd ask, "How much is it?"
The waitress says, "Twenty-four dollars."
I'd give her twenty-four dollars and a few extra dollars for a tip. Then I'd leave the restaurant. If she came over to your table five minutes later and said, "Here's your bill" and asked you to pay for it, that would be unjust.
Do you know why?
It's already paid for.
It had already been settled.
God would be unjust to make you pay because your sin has already been paid for.
God will purify you from all unrighteousness.
There are certain points you need to remember.
This is the only way you can get into heaven!
God is a holy God and will not let sin into his presence. God clothes you and covers you with his righteousness, and promises forgiveness.
Galatians 3:26-27
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Though your sins be as scarlet
you'll be as white as snow.
Psalm 103:12
“As far as the east is from the west, he has removed our transgressions from us.”
That's so neat because that's before we knew the world was round.
Inspired by God, David says, "As far as the east is from the west he has removed our transgressions." There's a definite ending to the north and south. He could have said, "I've removed your sins as far as the north is from the south."
But there's a North pole and a South pole. Instead he said, "As far as the east is from the west." You could head east today and you could head east for eternity and just keep circling. God has taken your sin and has banished it as far as the east is from the west.
Sometimes people get confused about the fact that he forgives all unrighteousness. They may point to Matthew 12:31 and say,
"What about the unforgivable sin?"
Matthew 12:31
“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”
Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit isn't some one-time, haphazard act.
It's a lifestyle of rejection.
God's the only person who can say that an individual has gone past the point of no return.
So don't give up on anyone. In fact, we must never hear ourselves say,
"She's so profane toward God, she's the last person who would ever be interested in the Lord," or, "He's the most greedy man. He's wicked and he'll never change."
If you've ever heard yourself say those words, I hope they'll drive you to your knees in prayer for that person.
I'm glad that the Lord didn't say that about the apostle Paul. "He's murdering Christians!
That's blaspheming against the Holy Spirit so we'll write him off." No way! God took that individual and inspired him to write over half of the New Testament.
The rows of this room are sprinkled with people who many people gave up on a long time ago. But God didn't -- he reached out to them. Neither did a godly grandmother give up, nor a prayer warrior who worked in the next cubicle, nor a parent who kept sharing the truth in love.
The grace of God isn't a license to do what's wrong; it's the liberty to do what's right. Listen to this warning to Christians to not be flippant about forgiveness or cavalier about sin.
Hebrews 10:26-29
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
The writer of Hebrews is basically saying, "Remember that your forgiveness was bought with a price -- the death of Jesus Christ.
Don't become casual about that, when you choose to willfully sin, you're mocking the sacrifice of Christ on the cross."
So walk in the light, out of gratitude for Calvary. But while you walk in the light you needn't fear whether or not God will keep his word. Be confident, because God's promise is a safety net for those who are trying to walk in the light, as he is the light.
The Christian's Response to His Offer
Throughout the New Testament there are countless references to, and reminders of, God's offer to forgive those who accept him as Lord of their lives. Let me give you four responses to his offer to forgive.
[1] Believe it.
That's why Christ came to earth as God in the flesh, to teach us about the nature of God.
If we could've wandered the streets of Palestine with Jesus, and looked at what he did, we would've seen the paralyzed man in Mark 2, to whom Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven."
We would've seen the adulterous woman in John 8, and listened as he told her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go now, and leave your life of sin."
Or while Jesus was dying on a cross, and the people were taunting him mercilessly as he died, he said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
That passage is so reassuring to me. Because if God is able to forgive those who murdered his Son, I'll bet he can forgive me.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." (Romans 8:1-3)
God wants to forgive you.
Believe It.
[2] Confess it.
Confess it to the person that we've offended. Confess it to a trusted Christian friend.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Several years ago Paul Harvey told about a petty thief in New York City who was arrested for snatching a woman's purse. It turned out that the woman he ran into and robbed was the 94-year-old grandmother of the most notorious Mafia family in New York. You know you're having a bad day when the woman you mug turns out to be Al Capone's grandma!
The thief confessed to the crime and went to prison, but before he did, he made it a point on television, to publicly apologize, saying he wanted to express his deep remorse for any harm he might have caused.
What he's hoping for is a little grace from a family who doesn't take offenses lightly.
We confess to others our sins, we confess to the Lord how we've missed the mark, and we confess to those we've offended. We make sure God understands that we've wronged him.
Usually we're more concerned with concealing our sin than confessing it.
King David came clean when he prayed:
Psalm 51:1-4
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”
Notice that there's a difference between admitting your sin and confessing it.
What God wants us to do is to get to the heart of the matter, and then to confess it out of the purest of motives, not in an effort to do damage control.
God wants to forgive you.
Believe It.
Confess it.
Extend it.
[3] Extend forgiveness to others.
Your refusal to forgive, or your desire for revenge, cancels out the grace of God.
Bitterness is like acid. It does more damage to the container in which it's stored than the object on which it's poured.
Today. In our time there have been more Christian martyrs than there were in the prior centuries combined. In North Korea and China there are incredible atrocities that are taking the lives of Christians each and every day. Yet in some of these families that have lost loved ones, there are family members who are praying for those who killed their parents or their brother's and sisters. There's an incredible revival taking place in some of those places because of the fact they're seeing that there's something different about Christianity.
In Matthew 6:15
But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
John Stott explained, "This certainly does not mean that our forgiveness of others earns us the right to be forgiven. It is rather that God forgives only the penitent, and that one of the chief evidences of true penitence is a forgiving spirit."
Forgiving others becomes a natural byproduct of those who are walking in the light.
"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness." (1 John 2:9)
God wants to forgive you.
Believe It.
Confess it.
Extend it.
[4] Accept it.
I mentioned earlier that as Christians we believe that God can forgive sin. We counsel others to be confident of that. But when it's our sin, for some reason we falter at embracing his forgiveness and simply wallow in the slavery of Satan's guilt trips.
In Richard Hoefler's book, Will Daylight Come?, he tells of how sin enslaves us but forgiveness frees us.
You may have read the book or heard the story before because I used before because it is such a great story and an illustration:
A little boy was visiting his grandparents and was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. It wasn't only her pet duck but it was her favorite duck. On an impulse he took aim and let it fly. The stone hit the duck and the duck fell dead.
The boy panicked and in desperation he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." Sally said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn't you. Johnny." She whispered to him, "Remember the duck." So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, "I'm sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally smiled and said, "That's all taken care of, Johnny wants to do it." Again she whispered, "Remember the Duck." Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he'd killed the duck.
She said, "I know Johnny." While giving him a big hug she said, "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I just wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."
If Jesus were here in the flesh and saw the anguish that some of you continue to allow Satan to put you through over past sins for which you've already repented,
I think he'd say, "I suffered enough already on a cross. If you've repented of a sin, there's no reason to allow the past to paralyze your power in the present."
You need to accept his forgiveness.
I saw a bumper sticker that said, "The next time that Satan reminds you of your past, you remind him of his future." I like that.
Psalm 32:5
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Notice that God doesn't just forgive the sin.
He forgives the guilt of your sin.
Only God can do that.
Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas. I've heard he was a rather nasty fellow with a checkered past. Later in life he made a commitment to Christ and was baptized in a river. The preacher said to him, "Sam, your sins are washed away."
Houston replied, "God help the fish!"
He's got the right idea.
Leave all of your sins of the past, present, and future in that baptistery and walk in the light with a confidence that sings and says to Christ,
"I'm forgiven, because you were forsaken,
I'm accepted, you were condemned."
You see Christ's forgiveness is available to all who trust in him. You just need to humbly accept it.
I want to challenge you today to admit your need for forgiveness and to confess your sins.
Some of you have never turned your life over to Christ and received his promise of forgiveness. You're not a bad person, per se; you've just never made the commitment to the Lord.
But whether you have one sin on you or a million, there's only one who can forgive your sin. You need a Savior.
There are others of you who are Christians and need to say, "You know what? I accept God's forgiveness and I will walk in the light with a confidence that God has forgiven and forgotten my sin. And he's placed it in the deepest of seas, and posted a sign that says, "No fishing allowed."
Maybe you need to make a decision for Christ, to accept him. Or maybe you need to commit to membership.If you have a decision to make, you come as we stand and we sing.
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