Day 6: Receiving God’s Forgiveness

We have considered the fact of sin, the prognosis of sin, and the burden of sin. Now let's turn to the good news, to God's promises of forgiveness. We will study two specific promises, one from the Old Testament, one from the New. First, Proverbs 28:13 says this:

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." (NIV)

That's exactly the opposite of the promise that God gave to Joshua that we looked at before, earlier in this series, where God said, "If you will do what I tell you, you will make your way prosperous, you will have success."

One inevitable barrier to true prosperity is sin, if we hold onto it and do not confess it and renounce it. "He who conceals his sins does not prosper." Bear that in mind, it's very important. But, "whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

So, there's the promise of mercy from God if we do two things.

First of all, confess our sins. God requires that we honestly acknowledge to Him the sins we have committed.

I have met some people who had the impression somehow that if they didn't tell God about their sins, He would never know! Of course, that's ridiculous. God doesn't ask us to confess for His sake, but for our sake, because when we confess our sin, when we bring it out in the open, honestly and humbly before God, we open the way for God to deal with our sin and deliver us from it. But as long as we hold onto it and try to keep it concealed, there is no way that God can help us or deal with our sin.

Secondly, we have to renounce it. We have to let it go. We have to turn from it. We have to decide that we do not want to go on living that way and committing sins of that kind any longer. This is a decision of the will, and the will is involved in this transaction with God. If we do not make a definite decision within the limits that God has set for us, then we cannot experience God's mercy.

The other promise is in the New Testament in the first epistle of John, chapter 1, verse 9:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (NIV)

Notice again that God requires that we confess our sins. And when we meet that condition, Scripture tells us two things. It tells us that God is faithful and God is just. We need to see those two things together. God is faithful to forgive us because He has promised to forgive us, and God will never go back on His promise if we meet His conditions. He is also just to forgive us because He has already visited the penalty for all our sins upon Jesus. When Jesus hung on the cross and died there, He paid the final and full penalty for the sins of the whole human race. Therefore, if we meet God's conditions, if we confess and repent and turn to God, God can now forgive us totally and finally without compromising His own divine justice.

What then do we have to do? We have to do three things:

1. We have to confess our sins.
2. We have to renounce our sins.
3. And then, by faith, we have to receive God's forgiveness. We have to believe that God will do what He has promised.