I John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
Romans 3:23 Paul reminds us that, “We all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
We are all sinners, each and every one of us and have fallen short of the glory of our Father. However, through the blood of our Lord and Savior Yeshua/Jesus Christ, our sins have been forgiven. When we confess and repent and ask our Father to forgive our sins, He does, and know longer remembers them, rather He blots them out as Isaiah 43:25 tells us. However, we must earnestly repent and return from our wicked, abominable, sinful deeds that are unpleasing to our Father. We can not simply repent and continue to do the same act on a daily basis.
Remember, a person does not have to confess and repent over and over and over again for the same sin. For if this is done you are calling our Father a liar, stating that He does not forgive and blot out our sins as the scriptures tell us. We must be mindful that when we honestly repent in the name of Yeshua/Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. We must repent for those sins of our past; sins of our youth; those sins that are brought to remembrance; and those sins that have been committed unknowingly.
Now, we don’t have to have a long prayer, or a special prayer, or go to a priest or minister for prayer, our Father hears our prayers. I’m reminded of the shortest prayer in the Bible in Matthew 14:30, “Lord, save me.” An earnest cry from Peter the disciple when he began to sink in the water and our Savior stretched out His hand and saved him.
Our Father certainly hears our prayers; however, what happens when we backslide? James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to Him it is sin.” II Peter 2:21 says, “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
We can break these two scriptures down in this way: If you have told your child not to play ball in the house, and you come home one afternoon, to find them playing ball in the house, their punishment is going to be greater because they knew right from wrong. Whereas, you may be more lenient; or chose not to give them a punishment, because you never told your child not to play ball in the house.
Once we have read the gospel that a certain act or lifestyle is unpleasing in the sight of our Father, we must repent, turn away from the sin, and pray for forgiveness. If we choose to discredit the scriptures to suit our own personal needs and the traditions of the world that is—sin. We cannot pick and choose what scriptures we believe and what scriptures we don’t believe. Our Father will view this as disobedience, pride, stiffnecked and stubborn and will judge us accordingly. We will never be able to justify a wrong-doing in front of our Father; nor should we ever try. For we should always live to please and serve our Father not man, traditions of man or the world. Our Father’s Word is—as is, and it never changes; for He is the same, today, yesterday and forever.
Our Father wants us to walk righteously so that we will be able to stand in front of the Son of man without blemish, and inherit the kingdom that was promised to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Forgiving Ourselves
Some have committed sins that are really horrible, and unthinkable; once we have confessed those sins, repented from those sins, and turned away from those sins, it is time for us to forgive ourselves. We have the comfort in knowing that our Father has forgiven us; therefore, we don’t have to beat ourselves down with memories, and moments of sadness, doubt and fear. Our Father has forgiven those sins.
When our former sins come to mind rejoice in the marvelous Father that we serve; a God that forgives our sins upon asking. Rejoice in His grace, rejoice in His mercy, rejoice in His love, rejoice in the fact of knowing that our sins have been forgiving and will never be brought up again by our Father. Jeremiah 31:34. Our Father has forgiven our transgressions and we ought to forgive them as well. Never dwelling in the past but rejoicing in the future.
Beyond Repentance
Now, I’m reminded of a story that happened a few months ago. An older man committed murder 30 years ago; he started getting closer to our Father and reading and studying the Word daily. He began to have remorse over his actions 30 years prior and repented for his crime. But he knew that he didn’t bring closure to this crime. Therefore, he turned himself in and suffered the consequences of his crime.
A lot of people would say, “Why did he do that, he was free?!” Well, another form of repentance is fixing a particular situation if it warrants it. He repented, but the victim’s parents never had closure to the murder of their child. In this situation the person repented; however, he felt the need to take it a step further in order to bring closure to the situation.
Remember, this is what this man’s heart and/or Holy Spirit led him to do. This does not apply in every situation of repenting; however, if a person has an opportunity to fix something where they have deliberately caused oppression, sickness, heartache, or the like, of another individual, or family, they should ask our Father, and our Father only, for His guidance in resolving such situations. For every situation will be according to our Father’s will. Not the will of man, not the will of family, or friends; priest or ministers; co-workers or neighbors; but according to our Father’s will.
Our sins are forgiven, blotted out, and never mentioned again. We should be led by the Holy Spirit in everything that we do. We should trust in His Word, trust in His mercy, trust in our faith. Our Father should be the director of our path, the captain of our ship. Let Him guide you toward peace, love, joy, and harmony. If we continue to dwell on the sins of our past, we fall short from the glory of our Father, and will not dwell in peace, love, joy, and harmony. Forgive yourself always, for you have been forgiven.
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