Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Did you forgive the Tuesday terrorists? | Matt 6:14 | Bill Mc | 16275 | ||
Dear Forum Readers, there are many who read this forum seeking scriptural answers to questions concerning life, death, God, man and the forgiveness of sins. We are all at different levels of spiritual maturity, growing in our knowledge of our Lord and His love. Please allow me to reassure some of you regarding the forgiveness of sins. It is being implied in this thread that if you, personally, do not forgive the terrorist for their sins, then God will not or has not forgiven you. This is a grave misunderstanding. Your forgiveness of sins before God is not based upon the above verse out of Matthew. The forgiveness of sins is based entirely upon Christ's redemptive work on the cross. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins" - Hebrews 9:22. Christ shed blood at the cross is what provides that forgiveness. All the Old Testament points to that one sacrifice at the cross and all the New Testament points back to it. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the forgiveness of your sins. Please see the following verses: Jesus said at the cross, in Luke 23:34 - "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing." That forgiveness for sins is only received upon placing one's faith in Christ. Once that is done, no more forgiveness is necessary or provided for the believer. Forgiveness is part of redemption. See these other verses: Eph 1:7 In Him we HAVE redemption through His blood, the FORGIVENESS of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. Col 1:14 in whom we HAVE redemption, the FORGIVENESS of sins. Col 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having FORGIVEN us ALL our transgressions. Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also HAS FORGIVEN you. Col 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord FORGAVE you, so also should you. 1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN you for His name's sake. Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may RECEIVE FORGIVENESS of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.' (When is it received? When they turn to God.) Heb 9:26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to PUT AWAY SIN by the sacrifice of Himself. Rev 1:5 says, "To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--" When and how were we released from our sins? By our death? No, by the blood shed at His death. Heb 10:17 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." Jesus Christ said as He was shedding His last drops of blood, "It is finished! Paid in full!" His redemptive work was done. Our part is to place our faith in that work and accept it. In conclusion, if you are a believer, your forgiveness of sins IS NOT based upon whether or not you have forgiven the terrorists. And the inverse is also true. If you are not a believer, forgiving the terrorist WILL NOT secure forgiveness of sins from God on your behalf. Christ alone has done this. In Christ, Bill Mc |
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2 | More on Mt. 6:14 -15? | Matt 6:14 | Morant61 | 16481 | ||
Greetings Bill! You said: "In conclusion, if you are a believer, your forgiveness of sins IS NOT based upon whether or not you have forgiven the terrorists. And the inverse is also true. If you are not a believer, forgiving the terrorist WILL NOT secure forgiveness of sins from God on your behalf. Christ alone has done this." I understand that you believe that there are some parts of the New Testament that no longer apply to us, but based on this quoted statement, Mt. 6:14-15 has no meaning whatsoever to anyone. I'm not totally sure how this verse should be applied, but it must mean something or Christ would not have said it. There seems to be two possible approaches. 1) We can take it as a command to all. 2) We can take it as a command to only those who lived before Christ. Neither view is without problems. You seem to take it to refer only those before the resurrection of Christ. If this is the case, does Mt. 6:14-15 mean that everyone who forgave others was forgiven by God? Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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3 | More on Mt. 6:14 -15? | Matt 6:14 | Morant61 | 16536 | ||
Greetings Bill! I need to correct my last paragraph! :-) It should read: "Neither view is without problems. You seem to take it to refer only those before the resurrection of Christ. If this is the case, does Mt. 6:14-15 mean that everyone who forgave others before the death of Christ was forgiven by God?" Sorry about that! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | Tim, here is my explanation - 3 parts | Matt 6:14 | Bill Mc | 16539 | ||
Dear Tim, I'll post this as a question so that you'll be able to see it (and hopefully Steve also). Sorry it's taken so long to answer but it took me a while to get all my thoughts organized, type it out, and try to keep it as concise as possible. Please, please look up the scripture references. Don't believe it just because I say it (I'm probably not risking that danger here on the forum anyway). It's in 3 parts. Here goes: Let’s start by laying down a couple of foundational principles concerning the forgiveness of sins: 1) The wages of sin is death – Rom 6:23; Eze 18:4. Why? Because, in God’s economy, He has stipulated that disobeying Him results in forfeiture of life. This ‘life’ is primarily spiritual life (union with God), with physical death being a picture of spiritual death (separation from God). When Adam and Eve sinned, they spiritually died that very day although they physically died much later – Gen 2:17. This forfeiture of life is physically represented by the shedding of blood, where Lev 17:11 says that physical life dwells. Therefore, whenever anyone sins, they deserve to be spiritually separated from God (spiritually dead) with physical death as an illustration of that principle. But God, not wanting His creation to be or remain separate from Him, provided forgiveness for sins by the shedding of blood – Heb 9:22. This, I believe is the only means of providing forgiveness for sins. 2) Only God can forgive sins – Mark 2:7. Why? Because, being holy and righteous, sins are a personal offense against Him and His character. 3) God devised two ways of administering forgiveness of sins to mankind. In the Old Testament (Covenant), God, in His mercy, allowed animal blood to be shed in substitution for human blood. This mainly had to be done once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. This animal blood covered ‘atoned for’ sins but did not take them away – Heb 10:11; Heb 10:4. Why? Because the animals had not sinned, man had. And although God personally took no pleasure in the sacrifices Heb 10:6,8, under law, He allowed them to be made. While the animal sacrifices covered sins, those sins were actually not paid for by human blood until Christ died at the cross. Heb 9:15 makes this clear. So… 4) Under the New Testament (Covenant), God, in amazing grace and mercy, accepted the sinless blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, as full payment for the sins of all mankind. This propitiation on Christ’s behalf ‘takes away’ the sins of all mankind (those born before the cross and those born after) permanently – Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; Heb 9:26; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10. 5) So, Christ death and shedding of blood on the cross becomes the focal point of the whole forgiveness issue. His precious blood took away all sins for all people for all time. It was an eternal act of God, being executed in time but not bound by it – Heb 4:3. His death is what ushered in the New Covenant of which He is the mediator. Heb 9:16,17 makes it clear that the New Covenant, Testament, Will (all the same word in Greek) did not go into effect until the death of the One who made it. Even in our society, your will, if you have one, does not go into effect until the day you die. Once you die, your will cannot be changed or revised and all wills prior to your last one are null and void. And, I believe, that the Old Will (Covenant) is no longer binding – Heb 8:13; Heb 10:9,10. It was only a shadow of the reality of Christ in us, the hope of glory – Heb 10:1. End of part 1 - See part 2 |
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5 | Tim, here is my explanation - 3 parts | Matt 6:14 | Morant61 | 16550 | ||
Greetings Bill! Thanks for the response! I'll try to respond to each one in some manner. I fully agree with absolutely everything you have written in this post! Excellent job! :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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