Is There a Limit to Forgiveness

Ever felt like you’ve sinned too much? Feel too ashamed to face God again and confess the same sin one more time? Think He’s tired of hearing you, rolling His eyes and doubting that you really mean it since you keep repeating the same sin? Feel like giving up? Let me share three verses and thoughts that have helped me with this issue.

1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and JUST and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

• I capitalized the word “just” because when we confess our sins to God, He is not only faithful, but He is JUST to forgive us. It’s proper, above-board, for Him to forgive us. You can find no fault with God for doing so. We don’t have to convince Him to do something He is hesitant to do. We don’t have to plead with Him to forgive us. Because of our faith in Christ, God has already JUSTified us, declaring us free from any future judgment for our sin. Jesus took the brunt of God’s judgment against sin when He died on the cross. Therefore, God the Father is justified and willing to forgive all who come to Him and admit their sin.
• The word “confess” doesn’t mean to cry or promise that we’ll never commit the sin again. It means “to say the same thing.” God is looking for us to agree with Him that what we did was wrong in His sight. He just wants us to admit we were wrong.

Luke 17:4 – “If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

• Jesus was speaking to His followers when He said this. Is He kidding?! I could see forgiving someone once or twice, but seven times…in the same day? In another place God told Peter to forgive a brother 7×70, or 490 times. Jesus didn’t expect Peter to keep a ledger and not forgive someone on the 491st sin. He was telling him that forgiveness was never to be denied.
• If God is telling me to be willing to forgive someone over and over, it gives me the assurance that God’s forgiveness will never be denied us when we admit our sin to Him.

2 Samuel 12:13 – “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’”

• This conversation between the prophet Nathan and king David was about a year after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover it up. But notice that IMMEDIATELY upon David’s confession, God forgave him.

Jesus did not only pay the full penalty for SOME of your sin and mine. He paid for ALL of it, past, present, and future. The blessedness of forgiveness is available for all those who accept Christ and ask Him to live within them and take the reins of their life. No longer do we need to hide our sin from God. Confess it and accept His forgiveness. Don’t spend another second carrying around a guilty conscience.

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