Talking about biblical forgiveness is challenging for a few reasons: 1) People inevitably get the impression that forgiveness lacks accountability, or they misunderstand how restoration happens; 2) there’s so little forgiveness in our world that they have no category for it; 3) We don’t think long and hard enough about how much we’ve been forgiven. There…
Talking about forgiveness is remarkably challenging. One of the daunting tasks for the pastor is to explain principles, knowing that there can be a variety of applications. Every situation is different, but the biblical principles are the same. And quite honestly, publicly preaching/teaching cannot get into every application. But it can give principle. That’s why faithful church ministry does not…
The next time you get worried about sharing the gospel with someone or worried about how God could use someone like you, just remember that Jonah preached a 5-word sermon, and God flipped Ninevah upside. Just give that some thought…much like God speaking through a donkey (Numbers 22:28), God did the miraculous in a most unusual way. The Lord will always send out His word to accomplish his plans.
The fact that there are two types of forgiveness listed in the Bible was new information for some of us. But when there is no confession of sin, there should not be spoken forgiveness to the sinner. Reasons for this are many, but we see this in the Bible. We are not granted forgiveness of our sins until we confess we’re sinners and believe in Jesus.
