Can God Really Forgive This?
1 COR. 6:9-11; 1 JOHN 1:9
SUBJECT:
FORGIVENESS/ SALVATION
THEME:
God
can forgive anyone and everyone who will receive His forgiveness. No individual
and certainly no sin is beyond His realm of divine pardon. God is no longer angered over
your sin or merely offended by your actions, flaws, mistakes, and sin. He
offers forgiveness!
RELEVANCY:
God wants you to experience complete
forgiveness today! You may be grieving about some sin you have committed
recently or even years ago, let me reassure you that God is still in the
forgiving business. Your unforgiving attitude may be stifling your ability to
love and to receive love. It stunts the growth of marriages and friendships
also. It is keeping you from enjoying the full abundant life that Christ
promised. I can say without any reservations that God wants you to experience complete forgiveness! That is forgiveness
of your sins and a full establishment of your relationship to the Lord God,
forgiveness of others who have wronged you, and even the forgiveness of
yourself.
INTRODUCTION:
1) Have You Ever Ask Yourself,
a. Have I committed a sin that God will not
forgive?
b. Can I ever be free of the weight of this
guilt?
c. Will God
forgive every sin?
2) God wants You to Experience Complete
Forgiveness, but have You Heard your own Objections?
“Forgive me? How
could God ever forgive me? You don't know what I've done.”
“Forgive that
person after what she did to me? You've got to be kidding!”
“I can't believe
I've done such an awful thing. I can never forgive myself for doing that.”
3) Christians
Have Not Right to Question a Person’s Motives Based on What They Use to Be
Before They Were saved!
“Why do you let people like that person join your church?”
“Why is it that the worse folk in town are welcome at your
church?”
“Why do you accept people who lead questionable lives?”
These are some of the questions you may here from well-meaning
Christians who refuse to understand that any sinner, no matter what their sin
or failures can be saved, and their lives can be change by the grace and power
of God.
MESSAGE:
I. Any Sin Can Be Forgiven by God! 1 Cor. 6:9-11
The apostle Paul dealt with an instance of sexual
immorality in the Corinthian church. It was a case of incest in which a man had
taken his father's wife. Although the woman was not his mother, the law of God
condemns the act as a vile abomination. Against that backdrop, Paul wrote,
1 Cor. 6:9-11, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators (Any Sexual Perversions),
nor idolaters (Worship anything or anybody else; involves practicing
terrible sins of immorality), nor adulterers (Illicit
sexual intercourse on the part of a married person),
nor effeminate (Homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind (Sodomy practices on others),
[10] Nor thieves (Stealing non belongings including internet downloads
and tax evasion), nor covetous (Immoral Cravings & Wrongful Acquisitions), nor drunkards (Alcoholism), nor revilers (Cussing), nor extortioners (Stealing/enrichment—taking
Advantage of the Poor), shall inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you:
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Characteristically the unsaved, “unrighteous” will not go
to Heaven at death; people who practice these things are not believers. This
passage holds three great messages for us. (based on Dr. W. McDonald)
A. GOD DOES NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN SINS.
First, 1Cor.
6:9-11, tells us that sin is sin. God
doesn't differentiate between one type or brand of sin and another. Most of us
wouldn't think of “revilers” (slanderers) as being in the same sin boat as “idolaters” and “thieves”. But God
doesn't have categories of sin.
- Sin
is still sin with God.
It is a gross mistake to view mortal sins as grave offenses
that sever our friendship with God and, consequently, cause a loss of
sanctifying grace. Or to view anyone dying in a state of mortal sin as suffering
eternal separation from God in Hell due this violation. It is also wrong to categorize
venial sins as lesser offenses that injure but do not destroy a person’s
relationship with God. Both ideas are misconceptions and errors to avoid in our
perception of sin.
Later in this chapter, Paul made a distinction between the
sin of sexual immorality and other sins, teaching the Corinthians to “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the
body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” (1 Cor. 6:18). But this is a differentiation of sin
according to the temporal effects/impacts of certain sinful behaviors, not the very
nature of sin itself.
- The
Unpardonable Sin relates to Christ’s Miracles Wrought by the Spirit!
Truthfully, the singular unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit by whose power Jesus worked miracles (Matt. 12:22-37). Such blasphemy as attributing the
works of the Holy Spirit to the devil involves incredible hardness of heart and
determination against the evidence for the miraculous works of Jesus Christ. Such
dismissals of the supernatural power of Christ were not forgivable because it
expressed a resolute and final rejection of Jesus. It is the true nature of a
person’s words that divulges the real condition of their heart whether good or
bad.
Those who committed this sin were hardened and unrelenting
in their opposition to our Lord Jesus. They had no apprehensions about
insulting the Spirit of God and no hesitancy in plotting the death of the Son.
They showed zero regret, shame, or repentance. (based
on Holman KJV Study Bible)
B. EVERY HUMAN BEING IS A SINNER. (1Cor. 6:9-11)
1.
Second, it Tells Us That Sin Is a Lifestyle, a Mind-set, a State of
Being.
Paul was not describing one specific act or behavior as
condemning; rather, he was stating that sin
had been the identity of the Corinthians in the past. Sin had been their
all-consuming character. For example, he didn't say, “Some of you have taken
things that weren't yours.” Paul called them former thieves—people who had stolen as
a way of life. He didn't say, “Some of you had too many drinks on
occasion.” He said some in the Corinthian church were drunkards. (Dr. C. Stanley)
2.
Every Man Has Sinned Against God.
Eccles. 7:20, For there is not a just man upon earth, that
doeth good, and sinneth not.
Now before you start thinking, Well, I haven't been any of the things on Paul's list, let me
quickly advise you that this is not a definitive list. Paul wasn't trying to
list all types of sinners. Rather, he was giving examples of the sinful state
to point out the same truth that he shared with the Romans: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom.
3:23). Every person, before receiving a new
identity in Christ Jesus, has had the identity of a sinner.
a.
Some People Look Back over Their Lives and Conclude, “I've never done anything very bad. I'm a
pretty good person and always have been.” And sometimes they
conclude, “What is there that God needs to forgive?”
b.
We All Are Sinners by Our Nature. They have missed the entire point about sin
and forgiveness. They have been taught a wrong perspective on life and on
themselves. This is the perspective that the Romans apparently had, for Paul
spent much of the book of Romans teaching that we are born with a sin nature. (Rom. 3:10, 23; 5:12; 6:23)
Sin isn't merely something you do. Rather, sinful is something you are from birth.
C. BUT GOD CAN FORGIVE ALL TYPES OF SIN.
1Cor. 6:11, And such
were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Third, this
passage tells us that all types of sin can be forgiven. Paul said, “And such were some of you” (v. 11). Paul reminded them that they were no longer who they
were, but they had been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Praise God! The Corinthians—as
sorry a group of sinners that ever came together to be a church—found a new
life, a new identity in Christ Jesus! (Dr. C. Stanley)
Note the words that Paul used:
1. They Were Washed. 1Cor. 6:11
Paul spoke of a cleansing of the spirit. So did the
psalmist when he said, “Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7).
“Washed” (Tit. 3:5) by the Holy Spirit from their sin and impurity
through the precious blood of Christ, and they were being continually washed
from defilement through the word of God. (Based on Dr. W. McDonald)
1 John 1:7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
2.
They Were Sanctified. 1Cor. 6:11
Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate.
They were “sanctified” in the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2) by the
operation of the Spirit of God, being set apart to God from the world. (Based
on Dr. W. McDonald)
a.
Something That Is Sanctified Is Dedicated to God, Set Apart for Holy
Uses. In Old Testament times, blood from sacrificed animals was applied to
certain vessels in the tabernacle or temple to make them holy for God's use. Hebrews 13:12 states, “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered.”
b.
When God Forgives Us, He Sets Us Aside —apart from the world of
unredeemed, unregenerated, unforgiven humankind—and considers us to be wholly
and solely for His purposes and fellowship.
3. They Were Justified. 1Cor. 6:11
Romans 3:24, Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
They had been “justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of
our God;” that is, they had been reckoned
righteous before God the Father based on the work of the Lord Jesus on the
cross for them (Rom. 8:33). (Based on Dr. W. McDonald)
a.
In the Natural, When We Justify Something We Line it up —for
example, we justify the margins on a page or we justify our legal arguments
against the law of the land. When we are justified in our actions, we are
vindicated.
b. In
Forgiveness, God Lines Us up Against the Truth of What Jesus Did on the Cross,
and God vindicates us and declares us to
be as righteous and just because we are lined up with Jesus. We aren't
righteous in ourselves, but the shed blood of the Lord Jesus justifies us
before God.
4.
Nothing Is Beyond God's Forgiveness. No sin is too great, too awful, or too
prolific for God to forgive. No person is so deep in sin, so ingrained in a
lifestyle, so steeped in evil, that he or she cannot be saved. Any sin can be
forgiven by God.
CONCLUSION:
Paul outlines in Romans
10:9-10, writing, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10, For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.”
We cannot simply believe anything about Jesus or be
forgiven for any reason, we must believe that the Son of God, died for our
sins, was buried, and God raise Him up again the third day for our
justification before The Father (1 Cor. 15:1-4
and Rom 3:21-31). It is vital that we
understand that it is faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel that is the power of
God that saves us...that grants us forgiveness (Rom.
1:14-17). This is how we all experience God’s
spiritual birth.
So then, what must we do to experience God's forgiveness? Accordingly confess your
sin and accept God’s forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Beloved, God can forgive anyone and everyone who will
receive His forgiveness. No one and certainly no sin is beyond His realm of
divine pardon. God is no longer angered over your
sin or finally offended by your actions, flaws, mistakes, and sin. He offers
forgiveness!
Remember, Christ’s suffering at Calvary was God the Father providing
payment for our sins. That’s what Calvary was about—justice was served, and sin
was paid for entirely. Since then, sinners can be saved—born again to enter a spiritual
relationship with God. Being born again means we become a part of a new family;
God is our Father who shares with us His very own divine nature. Beloved, we
must exercise faith in the Person and Work of Christ to
experience the spiritual birth.
