Summary

The article discusses the assurance of God's forgiveness for confessed sins, emphasizing that believers are secure in God's grace and mercy.

Abstract

The text delves into the common struggle of doubting God's forgiveness despite one's faith in Jesus Christ, who paid for all sins. It reassures readers that God's intention is to keep them in His hand, drawing parallels with the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage. The author shares personal experience of overcoming doubt about forgiveness granted at a young age, and encourages believers to trust in God's unchanging faithfulness. The article cites seven scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments to affirm that God forgives and forgets our sins, urging readers to live joyfully in the knowledge of His grace. It also warns against the enemy's tactic of reminding us of our past sins, which have been removed as far as the east is from the west.

Opinions

The author believes that living an "in and out" spiritual life is not what God intends for His followers, contrasting this with the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.
The article suggests that confessing sins is a soul-cleansing act that relieves one from unnecessary burdens and allows for a clearer relationship with God.
It conveys the opinion that God's forgiveness is complete and irreversible, as indicated by scripture, and that believers should not dwell on sins that God has chosen to forget.
The author emphasizes that God's love for the redeemed is everlasting and that His grace is sufficient to cover all confessed sins.
The text encourages readers to memorize and meditate on specific scriptures to reinforce their faith in God's forgiveness and to counteract Satan's attempts to undermine their assurance of salvation.
It is the author's view that believers should live with joy and confidence in their identity as children of God, redeemed and secure in His kingdom.

The Inside Exclusive on What God Does With Our Confessed Sin

Seven scriptures keeping you in the palm of God’s hand

Yes, Jesus paid it all. He forgave your sins, and all is well with your soul. Until this disturbing thought captures your attention. Did God forgive me for sure?

Is this you?

Or, you have a friend in God’s grace one day, then out of God’s mercy the next.

Living an in and out experience with our Savior is not the life God intends for you.

In and Out is a Hamburger spot, not God’s spot

I’m reminded often of this one verse. It’s about the deliverance God gave the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. I love these words in Deuteronomy 6:23 of what God intended for them, “He brought them out to take them in.”

You see, our God did not grant us salvation when we believed, to let us wonder about His faithfulness. Wonder no more, my friend. We have a God we can trust, always.

It happened in my past, but not anymore.

What happened?

I was ten years old when my mother led me in my salvation prayer. Too young to understand the full implication of this simple salvation prayer. For years this thought plagued me. Am I forgiven?

As I matured in my faith, I realized the significance of my come-to Jesus moment. The assurance of sins forgiven is by God’s grace alone.

God had placed me at ten years of age in the palm of His unchanging hand.

As God did for Israel’s children, He did the same for me. He took me out of the enemy’s camp and into His Kingdom.

So, let’s take a trip down God’s forgiveness lane

It is a son-lit lane of God’s mercy and grace. This literary walk through scripture reveals His forgiveness. Also His steadfast love for the redeemed.

Confessing our sin is good for the soul. It clears our minds and relieves us of the burden we were never meant to carry. You and I have enough stuff to worry about without adding unconfessed sin. We have a Savior willing and ready to forgive. Take advantage of God’s grace today.

The apostle John wrote these words to assure us, we have a God who forgives.

These seven scriptures keep you in the palm of God’s hand

1. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9, NIV)

I can hear you say, “But Richard, John is a New Testament writer, how about those Old Testament writers? Those old-timers heard from God. Did they write God forgives and buries their sins to remember no more?” Let’s take a look at four O.T. writers and find what the Holy Spirit had them write about sin’s forgiven. Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and King David.

Micah lived when people distrusted their neighbors and friends. The women they embrace, don’t thrust them for a minute. The word was out, don’t trust anyone. But Micah put his trust in God. In verse seven of this chapter, he declares;

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Then, Micah writes, God will kick our sins into the ocean’s depths.

2. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7: 19, NIV)

Isaiah opens chapter forty-three of his book with these encouraging words. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. How awesome are those words; “You are mine.” And, He wipes your sin from His memory.

3. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. (Isaiah 43:25, NIV)

I know how your past life hangs in the corner of your mind. It stresses how awful you’ve been. Jeremiah writes this in verse two of chapter thirty-one; I have loved you with an everlasting love. God’s love for His redeemed people has no drop-off point.

Today, clear out the sin-filled cobwebs of your mind.

4. …And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. (Jeremiah 31:34b, NLT)

God does not treat us as sinners undeserving of His love. King David says you can trace your steps over the whole-wide earth and never find the sin you confessed to the Lord. Our God is amazing in His love and care for us.

5. He, [God], does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:10–12, NIV). (My highlight).

We’ve seen God’s grace in the Old Testament. God’s grace holding us firm in the palm of His hand continues into the New Testament. God clears our record of confessed sin. He doesn’t even see them anymore. Sin’s forgiven.

Now, live a joy-filled life, free of confessed sin.

6. Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin. (Romans 4: 7–8, NLT).

God is not counting our sin against us. Through God’s grace, we are friends of God. Jesus said I call us friends, no longer servants in John 15:15. Meaning we are side-by-side with Jesus, no longer apart from Him, but reconciled with Him.

7. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (II Corinthians 5:18–19, NIV).

There you have it

Know this, never question God’s forgiveness.

Go to these seven scriptures.

Memorize two or three, even all seven verses. Write each on a note. Tape it on your bathroom mirror to remind you of God’s forgiveness.

It is a tactic of our enemy, Satan, to deceive and accuse us of our past.

But, you’re not living in the past.

You are living in God’s grace and mercy.

Glory in it. Rejoice in sins forgiven.

He doesn’t remember our sins!

So, you shouldn’t either.

Remember the verse I began within Deuteronomy; “He brought them out to take them in.” God brought you out of sin to bring you into His kingdom.

Rejoice today, You are firmly planted in the palm of God’s unchanging hand.

Redeemed and forever His own. That is who you are. Listen to Redeemed and Forever His Own.

Richard

Encouraging, empowering, and entertaining. In Christ.