The Surety Of Forgiveness

I want to spend some time in the next few weeks talking about the surety of things. Can we really be sure of anything? Someone once said, “The only things we can be sure of are taxes and the rent going up.” Some philosophers will tell you that we can't be sure of anything. After Covid-19 arrived and shook up our everyday routine, nothing seemed certain anymore.

Even now we are not sure that a restaurant will be open to be able to go in and eat inside. There is just no surety of that until you get there.

Well, all of this got me to thinking about what can we really be sure of. We do have assurance. God wants every believer to have assurance of salvation. Sadly, many Christians struggle daily with doubt as it pertains to their eternal destiny. They are just not positive they would go to heaven when they pass away.

Some even believe it's impossible to know with certainty that a person is eternally saved. At other times, believers aren't sure of their salvation and they find themselves in the midst of doubt and despair, uncertain of whether or not God has truly forgiven them. How many times have you heard someone say, “Where is God in all of this?” Others allow their own self-condemnation to smother that assurance that God wants for them to have.

But you know what? We can be assured of assurance. The apostle John stated it very clearly.

1 John 5:13 - "I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If we can't be sure of anything else, we can know that we are forgiven. That is where we're going today as we talk about the surety of forgiveness.

Prayer

I am going to be using the book of 1 John for today's passage. A few years ago, we went through all of the writings of John including the Book of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, as well as the book of Revelation. John's writings offer us a number of assurances, beginning with the forgiveness of our sins.

Surely, we will have good days when we seem to sin less, so God's word explains that every person sins. Actually, we are unable to live completely obedient to God. That's why Paul wrote in

Romans 3:23 – “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”

Sin comes with a heavy load of shame and guilt, which is what makes Jesus's forgiveness so wonderful. 1 John 1 assures us of this undeserved gift of forgiveness.

1 John 1:5-7 – “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The gospel, as a whole, has the power to change a person's life. Paul wrote

Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.”

If we embrace the gospel and believe what it tells us, God's power leads to transformation.

2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

The gospel tells me that it's powerful work in our lives is what moves us from darkness, which is sin, to light, which is salvation.

Colossians 1:13 - 14 – “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Do you hear what that is telling us? In Christ, we can be forgiven!

***

Think of it this way - every week, people take their clothes to wash them because they have become dirty. The job of the washing machine is to clean and to freshen them up and get them smelling good again. Well, Jesus has a pickup cleaning service. He picks up dirty people - people who have allowed their lives to sink into the mud for one reason or another - and cleanses them. Jesus is the one who cleanses us from all sin. This is the beautiful message of the gospel.

Jesus gave his life to save sinners like you and me. If your life pattern is turning from darkness to pursuing holiness, then never doubt God's forgiveness for you. We are forgiven when we confess our sins and walk with Christ. It really is as simple as that. Each time that you recognize you have sinned, stop and immediately confess it to God. Ask for His forgiveness. Sounds too good to be true, right? But this time it really is true.