God's forgiveness does not give us the license to sin. One of the arguments of the religious leaders during the time of the Apostle Paul was that the forgiveness of sin through faith encouraged the people to sin more. People could live a sinful lifestyle as long as they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and asked for forgiveness, and God would forgive them. Many people claimed, even to this day, that God is so loving and forgiving that no matter how they want to live their lives, God will forgive their sin as long as they confess their sin to God. This kind of thinking is coming from religious thought, and it is not coming from the Word of God. Romans 6:1-2 says, "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?"
The forgiveness of God freed us from our past sins to give us a fresh start in our lives. When God saved us from our sin, He saved us to have a new life in Him, which is why he is changing our hearts day by day. The evidence of a person who genuinely believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a change of heart. The sanctifying work of God in our lives starts to change us from within. We will still struggle with sin and make bad decisions, but there is something in our hearts that wants us to change. We become uncomfortable sinning. Whereas, if a person does not have genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, they do not want to change. But instead, they want to stay in sin and use God's forgiveness to make themselves feel good. However, they are not forgiven because they do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The key to our forgiveness is our genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Genuine faith means to believe in Jesus with a surrendered heart. It is a heart that says, "Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I confess all my sins to you, and I am guilty of every wrongdoing that I have done. Please forgive me. I do not want to live in sinful lifestyle anymore. I completely surrender my life to you. Change my life and make me the person that you want me to be."
Ask yourself these questions: What must I do to be truly forgiven by God? What does it mean to have genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Why does God forgive me?
Write down all the worries that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for teaching me about true forgiveness. Please continue to change my heart that I may completely surrender my life to you. I want to live in your freedom and enjoy the forgiveness that I have in you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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