Most of you reading this blog probably attend church. And every Sunday (or every Christmas and Easter, if those are the only times you attend), you go through a ritual or confession and repentance for your sins, asking God to forgive you of them. However, I am going to tell you that this is not necessary, and that ALL of your sins have already been forgiven, even the ones you’re going to commit tomorrow, or next year, or ten years from now, and that it was all done without you doing a thing to earn it.

The Wages of Sin is Death…

“but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“The one who sins is the one who will die…” (Ezekiel 18:20)

“Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:15)

The Bible tells us repeatedly that the penalty for sin is death. There are at least two dozen sins listed throughout the five books of Moses that directly call for the death penalty. Even if you did not commit a capital sin, you were still required to sacrifice bulls, goats, lambs, doves, pigeons, and rams as an offering to God for the rest of your sins (Leviticus 4-6). In essence, each and every sin requires blood to be spilled to pay for it.

We are all sinful. We come into this world spiritually dead, full of sin in our hearts. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12). We will leave this world with sin in our heart, because this world is of the flesh and the flesh loves sin. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh…” (Galatians 5:17). Therefore, we all deserve death, not just once, but many thousands of times over for the vast number of sins we’ve committed against our God and fellow man. At best, you have one life to give to pay for one sin, and the rest will go unpaid, damning you for the thousands of debts that you have racked up with nothing left to repay.

And that is where Christ steps in…

To Fulfill the Law…

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17).

Jesus was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice for sin, because he had no sin or imperfection of his own to atone for. His innocent suffering and death was able to pay our debts to God, because he had no debt of his own to pay. And how big was the payment made on our behalf? The average person probably has thousands of sins to account for, there are billions of people on Earth right now, there will probably be billions more born before the end of the world…so, yeah, a bajillion or so. So many sins that it required the DEATH OF GOD! The sin of the world was so heavy, so great, so immense, that the only blood that could atone for it was the blood of God himself!

Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf. Our sin required blood for atonement and he fulfilled our end of the bargain for us. As Jesus said in John 19:30, “It is finished…”

One Death for All Sins…

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25, emphasis added)

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28, emphasis added)

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14, emphasis added)

“The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” (Romans 6:10, emphasis added)

The Bible makes it clear that there are no sins left unforgiven. Indeed, the Bible makes it clear that the sins of the unbelievers were forgiven right alongside the sins of the believers. We were ALL forgiven of ALL of our sins ONE time, at the cross. After all, weren’t all of your sins in the future when Christ died 2,000 years ago? (Unless, of course, you’re over 2,000 years old…then maybe some of your sins were in the past when he died). How is it that his death 2,000 years ago atoned for some of your sins, but not all of them? Where is the line drawn? Do you wipe the slate clean each time you confess, but then start counting up new sins after that until the next confession? This causes a couple of problems…

1. I already quoted Isaiah a few paragraphs above, but let’s look at it again: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Or how about this one, from Jeremiah 31:34: “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The Lord tells us that he won’t remember your sins after they have been forgiven (which happened 2,000 years ago), so what are you asking forgiveness for? God has no recollection of what you’re confessing…
2. What if you die before you’re able to confess your latest round of sins? Most people go to church on Sunday morning and this tends to be the only time during the week when they would confess their sins. So, if you died on a Saturday night, there would be an entire week’s worth of sin built up that you had not confessed and repented from. Would you arrive at the gates of Heaven and be condemned because you still had sin in your heart that had not been forgiven? If you are condemned because you have not confessed your sins, then your salvation is dependent on what YOU are able to do, not what God has done for you!
3. “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22, emphasis added). Even if God did keep some account of your sins since your last confession, do you believe that just saying you’re sorry will grant you forgiveness? The Bible tells us clearly that forgiveness requires the shedding of blood! So either Christ’s blood was enough or it wasn’t. And if Christ’s blood, the very blood of God himself, wasn’t enough to pay for your sins, then how is your “I’m really sorry” sufficient?

And This is Not From Yourselves…

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Nothing we do can bring about the forgiveness of our sins. Nothing is required from us to grant the forgiveness of our sins. This was a gift from God, 2,000 years ago, to a wicked and wretched people that, somehow, he still loved.

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-24)

Salvation is yours for the taking and all you need do is accept it. God has forgiven and forgotten all your sins…isn’t it time that you forget about them too? Instead of constantly focusing your attention on sin, focus your attention on God.