How To Know If God Has Forgiven Our Sins?
It is undeniable that when we sin, the reasoning we often hear from most people is because we are only human. And this leads us to believe that being human, we are not perfect, we aren’t superb either. On the other hand, we have faith that there is a God who is always apt to forgive all our sins.
In the same way, the world we live in has surrounded by imposition and temptation. That is why Christ advises us to watch out and pray, as stated in the book of Mathew 26:41;
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
By and large, we have to agree with a certain point that our flesh is weak, and we therefore often fall into sin.
In the book of Romans 3:23 it says;
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
How can we be counted as sinners?
Let us read the book of James 4:17;
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.“
Likewise, in the book of 1 John 3:4, it says;
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.“
Very clear from those verses, if there is an opportunity to do good, and we did not do it, so too the transgression of the law we have sinned.
Additionally, let us read in the book of John 8:34;
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
We must admit that when we are practicing sin, we were a slave to sin.
Now, we’ve tried to pray and ask God for forgiveness, but at the end of the day, we’ve found out that we were still guilty.
Does God hear our prayer?
Let us read the answer in the book of John 9:31;
“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
From that verse, very clear that if we are sinners, God does not listen to us. And He is far from us, as stated in the book of Proverbs 15:29;
“The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.”
Therefore, for God to hear us, we must do His will and be righteous in the sight of the Lord.
Now, what must we do to be heard by God?
In the book of John 15:5, it says;
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.
Christ said, “without me, you can do nothing.”
In other words, without Christ, no matter what we try, nothing will happen. That means, for God to hear us, we must be connected to Christ, correct?
But, why do we still need to get through with Christ?
Let us read John 14:6 (NIV);
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“
With that said very clearly that we cannot come to the Father but through Christ. He is our mediator with God.
Let’s prove it in the book of 1 Timothy 2:5, it says;
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
How can we reach out to Christ?
In the book of Acts 2:38, has this statement;
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
It is clear that for our sins to reinstate, we must repent and took baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. And through baptism, we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that is the Spirit of adoption.
To prove it, let us read the book of Romans 8:15;
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
To receive adoption, why baptism is necessary? What is the significance of baptism?
In the book of Acts 22:16, it says;
‘And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
The reason why we need to take baptism is to wash away our sins, our impurities. It’s impossible to receive the Spirit of adoption if we were still filthy. The maker cannot utilize anything that is dirty, is it clear?
Pursuing this further, let us acknowledge our sins, our iniquity, so that God may have mercy on us.
In the book of Psalms 32:5, it says;
I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
In the same way, in Proverbs 28:13, it says;
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.“
Absolutely, very clear.
Now, moving on with the question, how can we know if God has forgiven us?
Let’s find out in the book of 1 John 1:9, says;
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Undoubtedly, it is clear from that verse that we will know God has forgiven us when we are purge from our iniquities, through Christ who washed us in His blood. Even our conscience is clean.
Let us read Revelation 1:5, it says;
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
When we’re in Christ, we are now a new creature and made free from sin. We are like a new piece of equipment that is ready to be used.
To prove it, let us read, 2 Corinthians 5:17;
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
All of these points to the conclusion that we are sure God has forgiven our sins when we’re committed sins no more. In other words, we’re not doing the iniquities anymore.
Hoping we’ve got the point!