Do We Need To Be Forgiven More Than Once?

Many today either “go to confession” or through a confession process asking forgiveness again and again. There are verses that speak of asking God to “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” And the familiar verse: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

But then there are verses like – “In whom we have [present tense] redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7),  “And you, being dead in your sins … hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you [past tense] all trespasses“ (Colossians 2:13).

So, which is it? Forgiveness once and for all, or again and again, over and over, asking God to forgive us every time we mess up, or at least on a regular basis to keep the record clean? Some have said this is God’s “parental forgiveness,” but do we only forgive our children when they ask? If any sin goes unconfessed and therefore unforgiven, there is no salvation.

It makes a difference where in the Bible you are reading (or where your religious leader is reading) and who is being spoken to. The fact is the “Our Father” prayer in Matthew 6:9-15, is spoken by Jesus on earth to Jewish apostles, at a time when the nation Israel was still under the Law, and before he even died on the cross. As to I John 1:9, If we confess, … then God will forgive; that is spoken by a Jewish apostle, John, one of the 12, to the Jews under his ministry, about how to get their sins forgiven at that time, and to be cleansed “from all unrighteousness.” Jesus on the cross satisfied God’s justice for them too! See I John 2:2. This is a verse about Jewish salvation, not Gentiles today maintaining daily forgiveness before God.

Again, it makes a difference where in the Bible you are reading. The apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, proclaims the full accomplishments of the cross to Jew and Gentile believers not under the Law of Moses, long after the fact, after the actual event of his death and resurrection. He writes Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 2:13, and speaks Acts 13:38,39, concerning all men.

Wow! The basis for our forgiveness today can only be the blood of Christ! The measure is not just God’s grace but “according to the riches of his grace!” The extent of his forgiveness is “having forgiven you all trespasses.”  He died once to pay for all sin! Forgiveness is once because of the blood of Christ not by our words! Total forgiveness of sins is offered to those who receive the gift of eternal life, as the gift of God, by grace, through faith in the provision for sin God himself has provided (Ephesians 2:8,9)! That great old hymn says it well: “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow!”

To think you must confess and be forgiven again and again, is to live in bondage under a constant cloud of guilt, or not be honest about the sins you missed or forgot. Romans 5:20 says, “The Law entered that the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Receive the forgiveness of sins by faith, once and for all, and forever, because “Jesus paid it all!” Then let God’s abundant love and grace motivate you to faithfully serve him!