The Forgiveness of Sin

The Bible says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. Young or old, rich or poor, slave or free, Jews or Gentiles, regardless of nationality, economic, or social status, everyone has sinned. It is therefore also true that we all need forgiveness of sin.

Some have come to terms with this truth, others have yet to admit they are sinners. Some will tell you “I’m not a sinner, I’m a good person”. There are others who admit they are sinners and actually want to do something about it, but they are applying the wrong solution.

What Exactly is Sin?

I believe it is the ignorance of what sin is that makes some people find it very difficult to admit that they are sinners. To a lot of people, you have to be very wicked and do very wicked things before you could be considered a sinner. But that is not what the Bible says.

What then is sin according to the Bible? The Bible says that “all unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17).

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

It means if you’ve ever told a small lie before, no matter how small and harmless it seemed, you have committed a sin. Each and every time you disobey a Godly instruction, whether from your parent or guardian, your school teacher or others who have authority over you, or anytime you disobey a clear instruction or commandment in the Bible, you’re committing a sin.

You only have to do wrong once to be a sinner. But if anyone alive today is good enough to never have committed any sin before, I have to remind that individual of Romans 5:12:

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

You were born sinner on the day you were born. This is because everyone inherited sin from Adam and Eve. This is why forgiveness of sin is a necessity for all people regardless of your religion, social or economic status. My goal with this lesson is to show you the right way to receive the forgiveness of sin.

The Necessity of Repentance

Repentance is realizing you’re on the wrong path and turning around to follow the path of righteousness. It can be considered in two ways: the repentance necessary for salvation to the unsaved; and the repentance necessary in the Christian life.

The repentance for salvation begins with “the hearing of faith”. You need to first hear the message of the gospel and believe before any change of heart can take place in you. See Ephesians 1:13.

Matthew 13:14-15 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mark 4:11-12 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

When you hear and believe the gospel, and it leads to the conviction of sin within you. This in turn gives you the reason to run to Christ for redemption. Coming to Christ by faith leads to regeneration which will in turn lead to the desire to serve Him and not sin. The repentance needed for salvation is realizing that you are lost without Christ and turning to Him for salvation. It is genuine salvation that produces the desire to flee sins and do good works.

Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

In the Hebrews text, the Bible says every transgression and disobedience will receive a just recompense of reward. There is always a penalty for all offenses and disobedience of the law. And when it comes to God, it is even more serious, death is the penalty of sin against God, even if it is a simple small lie, it is still a sin.

Somebody has to die!

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The blood has to be shed before sin can be forgiven. You either die and go to hell for all eternity to pay for your sin, or someone has to die in your place – either way, the blood has to be shed. It has always been this way with God, and always will be.

The truth received in the Old Testament that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” hasn’t changed. God still requires blood today, but it is now different. Someone has loved us enough to shed His blood for us, His name is Jesus Christ. This is the only sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore bypassing Christ is bypassing the way of salvation.

For more about the blood of Jesus Christ, see The Purpose of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

As pointed out earlier, there are a lot of people in the world today who still need to be convinced that they are sinners. They refer to themselves as good people. They go about comparing themselves with other people who might be morally worse than they are. And for those who admit they are sinners, they seek forgiveness of sin in the wrong place, doing the wrong things.

Many people have invented divers solutions for the problems of their sins which are completely fruitless. No good work will exempt you from the penalty of sin if you bypass the cross of Christ. Nothing else can help, not even:

Until the blood is shed, your sins will remain unforgiven – without the shedding of blood is no remission. In Old Testament times, the Jews had to make those animal sacrifices for the remission of their sins. They could not ignore that and choose to pray instead.

But today, there is only one option available, no more animal sacrifices (the blood of animals could not wash away sins):

Hebrews 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”

We are now left with the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. If you missed that one, your sins will remain unforgiven. If you say you’re a believer and no one has ever preached or told you about the purpose of the blood of Jesus Christ, or you’ve never been trusting in the blood of Christ for the remission of your sin, you’re probably not saved.

All the religions in the world give you their divers solutions to this problem, mostly in the form of doing deeds, self-control, self-discipline, loving others, don’t do this, that, or the other, don’t eat breakfast on Sunday, etc. Some of these may actually be good things to do, but they are not intended to be the solution to the sin problem. The Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and no good work can do it.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Titus 3:5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

It is impossible for anyone regardless of his or her resume to get to God without going through Jesus. And the place to start is at the cross. Have you been to cross? Have you been washed in the blood? Have you believed? Have your sins been forgiven and the penalties taken care of or are you still trying to work things out on your own?

What About the Devotees of Other Religions

All the religious groups in the world, with the exception of Christianity, have defined their means of getting to God. These means are all in the form of doing (and continuing to do) something in order to merit access to God.

Christ makes it very clear that He is the only way to God. No one can or will get you to God outside of Christ. Maybe now you’re saying: “why should I choose Christ over all the other options out there?”

Well, I’ve got news for you:

Jesus Christ is the only One who died and rose from the dead. All the other gods or religious figures being worshiped today are dead gods and dead religious leaders. They all died and they all remain dead. Only Jesus Christ is alive!

But not only is Jesus Christ alive, He also has redeemed us with His own blood and given eternal life to all who believe. So, which way would you go? A dead god who is demanding constant sacrifices from you, or a living God who had sacrificed Himself for you, says “it is finished”, died in your stead, rose from the dead, and alive forever?

It’s your choice. But if you miss the cross, you miss everything. Don’t allow religion, false churches and their false doctrines to mislead you.

Jesus Christ is the only One who died and rose from the dead.

All that you have to do to receive forgiveness of sin is to trust in the blood of Christ and believe that His work on the cross was done for your sins. This why Jesus Christ shed His blood and died.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Believe this with all your heart. Your sins will be forgiven immediately and you will receive the gift of eternal life and a place with Christ in the afterlife. This is what it means to be saved. God did not require that you do anything before or after believing the gospel in order to be saved, or to remain saved. Remember, Jesus died for you when you were still a sinner.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

You can believe today and put your faith the risen Christ.

All that you have to do to receive forgiveness of sin is to trust in the blood of Christ and believe that His work on the cross was done for your sins.