1. ______ How many sins did you commit on an average day BEFORE
you asked
God to forgive you?
2. ______ How old were you when you found Christ's forgiveness?
3. ______ Take line 1 and multiply it by line 2.
4. ______ Multiply line 3 by 365 to get a total number of sins
committed BEFORE you trusted Christ to forgive you.
5. ______ How many sins do you estimate you will commit on an
average day now that you know Christ as your personal Savior?
6. ______ Take line 5 and multiply it by 365 to find your yearly
total.
7. ______ Assuming that you will live to be 80 years old, take
line 6 and multiply it by the number of years between the age
you found Christ and age 80.
8. ______ Finally, add line 4 and line 7 to arrive at your GRAND
TOTAL of sins committed in your lifetime.
9. ______ In your understanding, how many of the sins on line
8 were forgiven AT THE TIME YOU FIRST TRUSTED CHRIST FOR SALVATION?
10. _____ Subtract line 9 from line 8 to determine those sins
remaining.
Whats going to happen to those sins remaining on line 10?
__________________________
What do the following verses have to say about your answer to
the previous question?
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision
of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave
us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations,
that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away,
nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13,14, pg. 995)
If he forgave ALL sins (past, present, and future) when you first
trusted Christ for salvation, what do you do with a verse like:
"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, pg. 1028)
An incident that happened between my wife and I early in our marriage
might help clarify. I got up one morning feeling irritable and
on edge. When I sat down to breakfast, I noticed that we had no
bread for toast. I quickly said some harsh words to my wife and
left the room.
However, my juvenile reaction bothered me. Nevertheless, I didnt
go back to apologize. Rather, I simply tried to make it up to
her -- hoping that she would forget. I bought her flowers. I complemented
her and said nice things about what she doing.
Still after several days I still felt no better and finally came
to apologize. Upon hearing my confession, she simply responded,
What? Youve been bothered by that? I forgave you right away. I
understood.
For days I had been experiencing miserable emotions. All of this
occurring because I refused to admit to my wife that what I had
said was wrong. The forgiveness was there, but I was not experiencing
it. I John 1:9 tells us how to experience God's forgiveness by
maintaining a constant acknowledgment of our wrongdoings to Him.
We can then enjoy the forgiveness that He's already provided!
Now let me ask you this question. If someone came to God and asked
Him to give His opinion of you, what words would He use? ________________________________
If you felt His opinion of you had anything to do with past actions
that were contrary to Him, you underestimated God's ability to
forgive and forget! God remembers your sins no more.