This was an article I did for a friend of mine.
I received your email on your friend who apparently is having a hard time in dealing with whether or not God will really forgive her for some bad "sins" in her past. You asked that I send you over some of the Bible verses on forgiveness.
I'm assuming your friend is already a Christian. I'm assuming she has already confessed each of these sins before God and has asked for His forgiveness. If she has not, then that will be the first step she will need to complete.
She will need to go before God the Father, confess each one of the sins individually and ask God for His forgiveness. If she confesses each one of these sins from her heart and is really serious with God about each of these sins - then she will be forgiven - no questions asked!This will be a done deal.
However, if she has already done all of the above, but is still wrestling as to whether or not God has really forgiven her, you can pass onto her the Scripture verses that I will list below. These verses will show her that God will forgive any sin with the exception of the sin of the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit." I'm assuming that she is not anywhere close to having had committed that sin - so whatever she has done, no matter how bad she may think it is, God will forgive her. Tell her that her "slate" is clean as far as God is concerned.
However, what may be bothering her is handling the guilt of these past sins. She has to learn to let that guilt go. God has and so should she!
If handling the guilt of these sins is really her problem, and she can't seem to let it go or get it "off of her," then tell her to go to God the Father in prayer, tell her to tell Him what the problem is and then ask God to help her "take the guilty feelings" away from her.
This is the job of the Holy Spirit to break those "guilt chains" off of her back! She may not have the "mental power" to do this for herself, so tell her to ask God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to do this for her. If she will simply askGod to do this for her, I have to believe that He will do it. It could literally be that simple.
Here are some real powerful verses from the Bible that will show her that God will forgive her of her sins - no matter how bad - if she will only believe it and accept it with a little faith.
1. This first verse tells her that she can boldly approach the throne of God for mercy and grace!
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
2. This next verse will show her that God doesn't want her carrying around "baggage" that weighs her down. He wants her "burdens" to be "light." Those feelings of guilt are like "chains" or heavy anchors around her soul.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28)
3. This next verse tells her to literally cast all of her burdens onto Jesus - which would include handling the guilt associated with any of her past sins.
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)
4. This next verse tells her that she now has an "advocate" in Jesus for her sins before God the Father.
"My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1 John 2:1)
5. This next one is major! This verse tells her that if she will confess her sins before God the Father, that He will forgive her and cleanse her from all the "unrighteousness" of her past sins.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
She needs to really grab a hold of that verse and believe it because the Bible says so. Tell her the Bible is the true word of God and she can "bank her life" on it.
6. This next verse tells her that if she has truly repented from these past sins, that these sins have now been blotted out before God. He remembers these sins no more!
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." (Acts 3:19)
7. This next verse reaffirms the above verse stating that God will now blot out all her transgressions and will no longer remember her sins!
"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted." (Isaiah 43:25-26) That verse also shows her that if she will simply approach God the Father, state her case and repent - God will "acquit" her - forgive her - and her sins will no longer beremembered! 8. This next one is also a major verse. This verse tells us there is now "no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." What this verse means is that if you have confessed your sins before God the Father andhave truly repented, then God has forgiven you. And if God has now forgiven you, then you no longer have any condemnation before God. You are now forgiven and you are free to let all of your past sins go - including all of the guilt that has gone along with these sins. Here is the verse: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus ..." (Romans 8:1) 9. Here is another real neat verse that says our sins will become "as white as snow." In other words, our "slates" are now completely clean. Our "sheets" are as white as snow - all the stain from those past sins have now been washed away by the blood of Jesus. Here is the verse: "Come now and let us reason together", says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18) 10. Here is another verse that will tell her that the "old things" of her past, including all of her past sins, have now passed away before the eyes of God because she is now a new creation in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) 11. Here is another verse showing that we now have forgiveness and redemption through the blood that Jesus has shed for all of us on the cross. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
Bob, feel free to print this article out and give it to her so she can study the above verses and get a grip on what the Word of God is telling her.
She needs to understand, that as a Christian, she has automatic forgiveness for all of her sins, no matter how bad she may think they are. As long as she has properly confessed and repented of each of these sins before God, He will forgive her. All of the above Scripture verses state that without any other possible explanation or interpretation.
Tell her the Bible is the one and only true word of God and that if the Bible says it is so, then it is a done deal - no questions asked!
If you study the above verses very carefully, not only is God telling her that she now hasHis forgiveness due to the blood that Jesus has already shed for these sins, but they are no longer "remembered" in His eyes. They are now completely "blotted out." And if God is no longer wanting to "remember" these sins, then she needs to do likewise.
The only thing that she may have left to deal with may be handling the "guilt" of these sins. Like I said above, tell her to go direct to God the Father onthis issue and ask Him to take away the guilt by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have to believe that God will do this for her if she will only approach Him and ask Him for it. It should be that simple.
Let me know what happens on this. If for some reason none of the above seems to work, let me know what the issues or problems are so I can try to send her some additional information in order to help her get a handle on this and defeat it.
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Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible Knowledge, articles, commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 Bible articles.