I am not preaching from Psalm 13 and have chosen to study that Psalm this upcoming Wednesday. I encourage all of you to be here for study and small group prayer time.
I will be preaching on the subject of Forgiveness this morning. This will be a different type of sermon, but has a simple outline. Point 1: We know that God forgives our sin initially. Point 2: Repentance is not a one time event. Point 3: We must forgive one another.
PRAY
Point 1: We Know that God Forgives our Sin Initially
Text: Romans 3:23-26
There was a time that all of us who have made a commitment to Christ cried out with the Psalmist (51:1-17).
After John the Baptizer was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Do you know what He said? “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel!”
We did repent didn’t we? We turned to Christ more so than from our sin and when we did we received forgiveness of our sins. God calls all people, everywhere, to repent and call on the name of Jesus Christ because He has appointed a Day when He will judge the world in righteousness. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved other than Jesus Christ.
Text: Titus 2:11-14
Christ gave Himself for us and thus forgave our sins.
We know that He has forgiven our sins initially when we first came to Christ, but what about now? Does repentance have a place in our Christian lives years from the time we were born again or are we automatically forgiven for everything? This leads to Point 2.
Point 2: Repentance is Not a One Time Event
Text: 1 John 1:8-2:2
We must continue to repent of sinful behavior; continually turn to Christ by confessing our sins to Him. Why should we do this? 1 John 1:9-2:2 supplies the answer. God says that we are sinners and when we confess our sins we agree with Him.
Confession is an Amen.
I believe that confession of sin is naming our sins. We should not pray in general with some kind of formulated prayer. We should pray from the heart, naming our blessings one by one and naming our sins one by one. That is confession. Forgiveness and cleansing are sure things because God is faithful to His promises.
Forgiveness is not a two-way street. It is actually a triangle. God forgives us, we continually confess our sins to Him, and most certainly the NT teaches that we must forgive one another.
Point 3: We Must Forgive One Another
In Matthew 6:12 Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness and to state in our prayers that we will forgive others. I never really looked at that second part so clearly until this week.
Text: Matthew 6:14-15; 18:21-22
We can not earn forgiveness, but there is something we must do to be a candidate for it. We must forgive others for their trespasses against us and God will forgive us our trespasses against Him. This principle is taught throughout the Bible: “Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath” and another good reference comes from this same Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Look at 5:23-26. God has shown us the importance of forgiving one another.
Text: Colossians 3:12-17
This Colossians text is a fitting way to lead to a conclusion of this sermon. We are told to forgive one another and then it goes on to say “But above all these things put on love.” Forgiveness is like love- God loves first, we love Him second, and then we love others which demonstrates our love for Him. Love covers a multitude of sins.