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Finding Forgiveness
February 28, 2010
Ryan Heller
Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)
I. How does God forgive my sins?
a. Completely
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT)
He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west. Psalms 103:12 (NLT)
b. Sacrificially
After Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and died. John 19:30 (GW)
c. Gracefully
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more…
Romans 5:20 (NIV)
d. Lovingly
Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth; look instead through the eyes of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD. The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. Psalms 25:7-8 (NLT)
II. How do I forgive myself?
a. Request God’s forgiveness
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
b. Recognize God’s forgiveness
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace… Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
c. Relinquish thoughts of performance-based forgiveness
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
d. Realize we cannot change the past
My aim is to know him, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: forgetting the things behind and reaching out for the things ahead,
Philippians 3:10, 13 (NET)
e. Remember we have a sin nature
“…So be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48 (ISV)