God Is Forgiving

6 Academy Awards

Forrest didn't have a father in his life

Forrest's heart was broken by Jenny

Forrest was teased for his low IQ

Forrest was often bullied by others

Forrest suffered physical disabilities

But Forrest never got bitter by unforgiveness

“My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.”
-- Forrest

Forgiveness redeems our past and preserves our future

1 John presents God as a God who is faithful to forgive-- not arbitrarily, but when we follow the truth of His Word

Facts from 1 John 1:5-7

• These verses are about having fellowship with God (salvation in Christ, through Jesus blood)
• v. 5: This message is from the true God
• v. 5: "Light" = absolute moral purity
• v. 6: Not everyone who claims to have fellowship with God (to know God) is telling the truth. Some try to deceive (lie) about who God is.

1 Jn 1:5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Facts from 1 John 1:5-7

• v.7: (conditional statement) "If" we walk in the light (the spiritual truth about who the One True God really is), THEN the Blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin
• v. 7: "The blood of Jesus" is the only way to be forgiven/cleansed (see Heb 9:14)

Truth 1

• Only One True God Exists and Can Grant Forgiveness

The Bible Teaches That All Other Ways to God & Forgiveness Are Misleading and Untrue

The Bible considers other "gods"...

• As being 'real' only in the perceptions of the minds of their devotees Deu 6:14
• Useless in helping people reach God or be forgiven, John 14:6
• Representing deceiving demonic spirits Deut 32:17
• God is the judge of all so-called "gods" Ex. 12:12

The Bible considers other "gods"...

• I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. Isa 45:5
• Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."John 14:6

In the Bible, "other" gods are:

• "Made" by human hands (Ex 20:1-5; 2 Ki 17:29; Acts 19:24ff)
• All idols (the creation of people in both their imaginations and physical representations), which is why God said not to make images in His likeness (1 Chr 16:26)

(About false gods) "Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone, 'Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.'" (Habakkuk 2:19-20).

HINDUISM

BUDDHISM

BUDDHISM TEACHES

• The essence of life is suffering but it can be escaped and reincarnation ended by the 8 Fold Path
• This involves our effort in many ways (thought, actions, intentions, speech, concentration, etc.) to progress toward Nirvana
• This differs based on the type of Buddhism

ISLAM

JUDAISM

CONFUCIANISM

JAINISM

SHINTO

SIKHISM

TAOISM

ZOROASTRIANISM

BAHA'I

CHRIST'S GOSPEL IS THE ONLY MEANS TO RECONCILIATION THROUGH RECEIVING FORGIVENESS AND GAINING FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

After clarifying that true believers are the recipients of fellowship with God, John turns his attention to the issue of God's forgiving nature

1 Jn 1:8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins...

Truth 2

• God always completely forgives ANY truly repentant person; only the 'finally unrepentant' person will remain unforgiven

He Has Forgiven Me

God is willing to forgive each of us when we're repentant

C.S. Lewis

• "You must picture me... night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired NOT to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me... I gave in, and admitted that God was God... perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England"

Chuck Colson

Brian Head Welch, Korn

Kirsten Powers, Journalist

“Would it be worth it to pick up my cross and be crucified next to Jesus? If He is not God, then, no. Lose everything I love to worship a false God? A million times over, no! Convert, Nabeel Qureshi

Rosaria Butterfield, leftist lesbian prof

Alexander Chu

Jordan Monge

Jeffrey Dahmer, Sadist Killer.
"I have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, and I believe I and everyone else will be accountable to him."

Is Christ's blood powerful enough to forgive anyone?

1 John 2:2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Christ's gift is sufficient that, if each person of all time chose sin at each moral decision in his/her life, and consistently chose the worst possible decision, all could still be forgiven by His ocean of grace

Truth 3

• With God's power, Christians have the power (if appropriated) to overcome sin on a consistent basis, though we won't become sinless in this life

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Insights

• So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. Gal 5:16
• We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. Rom 6:6

Insights

• For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Phil 2:13 NLT
• This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor 5:17

Truth 4

• We Can "Be" Forgiven without "Feeling" Forgiven

Why We Don't Feel Forgiven

• We believe Satan's lies and accusations (Rev 12:10)
• We allow others' accusations to stick, in spite of our repentance (1 Pet 3:16)
• We allow our own conscience to accuse us, in spite of repentance (Rom 2:15)
• Perhaps we've not followed scriptural teaching on post-salvific sins

Being AND Feeling Forgiven

• Contrition/Penitence (Ps 34:18; 51:17)
• Repentance (Acts 3:19)
• Acknowledge/Confess (1 Jn 1:9)
• Accept Christ's sacrifice (Eph 1:7)
• Make restitution if necessary (Ex 22:3)
• Forgive others' offenses (Mt 6:14-15)
• Believe you're forgiven and move on (Rom 6:11)

Truth 5

• We Can Be Forgiven by God but Remain Unforgiven by Those We've Offended

Be patient with them. You owe them that. After all, you were the offender and others were victimized by you in the past.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:18

Sometimes people will doubt the sincerity of our faith, as if that is required for them to forgive us (it's not required)
c.f., Acts 9:26

Call To Action

Respond to These Truths

• Receive Forgiveness from God
• Grant Others Forgiveness
• Forgive Yourself
• Tell Others About God's Forgiveness

Comments/Questions

Discussion Groups

Thanks for Coming