Receiving and Giving
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)
When you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, your sin debt is eternally forgiven. Our passage says so: “…God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Isn’t that great!
Sin is a serious matter. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death;” Revelation 20:14 also says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” Sin has a horrible penalty of death and hell. Yet Jesus died for all our sins on the cross: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” (1 Peter 2:24) Jesus was buried and rose again on the third day! “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;” (Revelation 1:18)
We cannot understand how Jesus’ death paid for sins not yet committed, but the Bible says that He offered “…ONE sacrifice for sins for ever,” (Hebrews 10:12, capitals added) That includes ours. If Jesus’ death were not sufficient to pay for our sins, then a second crucifixion, burial, and resurrection would have to be necessary at some point. Yet that has never happened, nor will it ever, because Jesus’ death paid for “…the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
When a sinner comes to Jesus in repentance for the forgiveness of sins and receives Him as Saviour, his sin debt is forgiven completely. Colossians 1:14 says, “In whom [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Psalm 103:12 says as well, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Of course, sin can still bring bad results in a believer’s life. It brings a guilty conscience: “For day and night thy hand [God’s] was heavy upon me:” (Psalm 32:4) It cuts off fellowship with God and leads to unanswered prayer: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18) If it is not confessed, it can provoke the believer to lose interest in God’s Word or in serving Him: “…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13)
Sin can also damage a Christian’s reputation. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah her husband killed in battle, Nathan the prophet told him, “…by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme,” (2 Samuel 12:14) Sin brings bad results on many levels, but God’s Word is clear that the eternal sin debt of death and hell is gone for good.
God has forgiven us a horrible debt. We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God gave it to us by His grace because He loves us. What should we do, then, with this good news? First, we should share it with people whenever we can. People all around us do not know how to have their sins forgiven. They need to hear of Jesus who loves them, died for them, was buried, and rose again.
We also should strive to be forgiving toward others, as our passage says, “…even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Forgiving may not be easy, especially if you have suffered serious wrongdoing. Yet the same Jesus who hung on the cross in horrible pain and cried, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) as the crowd mocked Him, can help you.
Most importantly, if you want to see how to have eternal forgiveness for your sins, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 5/28/2022
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822