When Does God Forgive?

[newton3005]

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalms 32:5 says, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

We know that God may forgive us and those we pray for if He is asked, or somehow addressed. There isn’t one instance that I know of in the Bible, that God forgives someone without being asked. Think of it.

God didn’t forgive Adam and Eve for eating of the Tree of Good and Evil, right? He condemned them to mortality. And it appears they didn’t ask God to forgive them. What if they did? Would God have relented and made them immortal? What if Cain asked God to forgive him for killing Abel? We’ll never know, because Cain didn’t.

And nobody in Noah’s time asked God for forgiveness before they were swept away by the flood. And nobody living in Sodom and Gomorrah asked God either. Fact is, there wasn’t one righteous person living in those cities.

The first instance I know of, in which God forgives people or engages in some semblance thereof, is when Moses asks God to spare the Hebrews from His wrath when they started worshipping a golden calf. Moses in Exodus 32:8-14 implores God to spare them, and God did. James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” This passaged is referenced back to Job 42:8 in which God tells those who mocked Job that Job prayed to Him on their behalf, therefore God would spare them from what He was going to do to them.

The first instance I’m aware of in which God forgives someone who prays to him, is in the Book of Jonah in which the Ninevans, upon hearing from Job that God planned to destroy them for their evil, did things like fast and deny pleasures to themselves. God responds by sparing them.

The idea of God forgiving us is found in the Book of Psalms and in the New Testament. But, the only incident I know of in the New testament of God forgiving someone is when Jesus on the cross says to the condemned man next to him that he will join him in God’s Kingdom, since he acknowledged God’s existence. If so, it is perhaps ironic that, for all the discussion in the Old Testament about forgiveness, we may only know of God forgiving the condemned man next to Jesus.

Perhaps God felt that we didn’t need many examples in the Bible of situations n which He forgave people, who knows? We are left to trusting Him without leaning on our own understanding as provided for in Proverbs 3:5.

 

[SkyWriting]

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalms 32:5 says, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

We know that God may forgive us and those we pray for if He is asked, or somehow addressed. There isn’t one instance that I know of in the Bible, that God forgives someone without being asked. Think of it.

God didn’t forgive Adam and Eve for eating of the Tree of Good and Evil, right? He condemned them to mortality. And it appears they didn’t ask God to forgive them. What if they did? Would God have relented and made them immortal? What if Cain asked God to forgive him for killing Abel? We’ll never know, because Cain didn’t.

And nobody in Noah’s time asked God for forgiveness before they were swept away by the flood. And nobody living in Sodom and Gomorrah asked God either. Fact is, there wasn’t one righteous person living in those cities.

The first instance I know of, in which God forgives people or engages in some semblance thereof, if when Moses asks God to spare the Hebrews from His wrath when they started worshipping a golden calf. Moses in Exodus 32:8-14 implores God to spare them, and God did. James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” This passaged is referenced back to Job 42:8 in which God tells those who mocked Job that Job prayed to Him on their behalf, therefore God would spare them from what He was going to do to them.

The first instance I’m aware of in which God forgives someone who prays to him, is in the Book of Jonah in which the Ninevans, upon hearing from Job that God planned to destroy them for their evil, did things like fast and deny pleasures to themselves. God responds by sparing them.

The idea of God forgiving us is found in the Book of Psalms and in the New Testament. But, the only incident I know of in the New testament of God forgiving someone is when Jesus on the cross says to the condemned man next to him that he will join him in God’s Kingdom, since he acknowledged God’s existence. If so, it is perhaps ironic that, for all the discussion in the Old Testament about forgiveness, we may only know of God forgiving the condemned man next to Jesus.

Perhaps God felt that we didn’t need many examples in the Bible of situations n which He forgave people, who knows? We are left to trusting Him without leaning on our own understanding as provided for in Proverbs 3:5.

On the cross. "It is finished" according to Jesus.
Our only task is to accept forgiveness for all sins
the price is already paid for everyone.

John 19:30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 

[royal priest]

Forgiveness does not mean there will not be temporal consequences for sin. The theif on the cross is a case and point of this.
This means that Adam and Eve may have been forgiven though they suffered the temporal consequence of their sin. Most theologians understand the animal skins provided to them by God was symbolic that He had forgiven their sins. The skins belonged to sacrifices made for Adam and Eve's sin. Further evidence of this is seen in the animal sacrifice offered by their son Able.
We see this sacrificial system carried on until Noah in Genesis 8:20. These sacrifices were reminders to the offerer that the payment for sin is immediate death and that God was a forgiving God for accepting the sacrifice in their place. The animal was a sin offering in which the offerer confessed that he deserved to be the animal on the altar, deserving immediate judgement for his own sin.
The OT sacrifices were types of the NT sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Paul explains in the book of Hebrews that it was necessary for Jesus to be a sacrifice because the animal sacrifices could not actually take away sins. They were only types and shadows of the sacrifice of Jesus whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of all of God's people past, present, and future.

 

[A_Thinker]

We know that God may forgive us and those we pray for if He is asked, or somehow addressed. There isn’t one instance that I know of in the Bible, that God forgives someone without being asked. Think of it.

What of Jesus of the cross ... ???

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,"

What of Jesus' forgiveness of the infirm man brought to Jesus by his friends ... ??

Matthew 9

1 A few days later, Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard He was home, 2 they gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room, not even outside the door, as Jesus spoke the word to them. 3 Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. 4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

And nobody in Noah’s time asked God for forgiveness before they were swept away by the flood. And nobody living in Sodom and Gomorrah asked God either. Fact is, there wasn’t one righteous person living in those cities.

oops..... there was one..... I read about him in the Bible.

Also, some posters think they do not have to repent - that they can keep on sinning and not only not ask for forgiveness, but that they can continually rebel against God and not even think of repenting of dwelling on sin and devising sin at night and in the day time, and openly permitting sin in themselves and in others -
according to all of God's Word, they are in darkness, and there is no light in them at all ...
their choice, openly posted frequently for years, by many various posters.
Thus, without repentance,
with continued willful rebellion
,
with no light to shine in the darkness,
no forgiveness.

 

[SkyWriting]

oops..... there was one..... I read about him in the Bible.

Also, some posters think they do not have to repent - that they can keep on sinning and not only not ask for forgiveness, but that they can continually rebel against God and not even think of repenting of dwelling on sin and devising sin at night and in the day time, and openly permitting sin in themselves and in others -
according to all of God's Word, they are in darkness, and there is no light in them at all ...
their choice, openly posted frequently for years, by many various posters.
Thus, without repentance,
with continued willful rebellion
,
with no light to shine in the darkness,
no forgiveness.

Everyone (you too) will always continue to sin no matter what happens.
If God is not in communion with you, walking at your side, then you are
walking in sin. And we all are there.

The only difference is some acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness.
Then our continuing sins are not counted.

 

[JIMINZ]

God didn’t forgive Adam and Eve for eating of the Tree of Good and Evil, right? He condemned them to mortality.

You make it sound as though God after the fact condemned them.

He told Adam "On the day you eat of the tree you shall die" it came with the fruit, not a sentence handed down afterword for doing so.

 

[dqhall]

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalms 32:5 says, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

We know that God may forgive us and those we pray for if He is asked, or somehow addressed. There isn’t one instance that I know of in the Bible, that God forgives someone without being asked. Think of it.

God didn’t forgive Adam and Eve for eating of the Tree of Good and Evil, right? He condemned them to mortality. And it appears they didn’t ask God to forgive them. What if they did? Would God have relented and made them immortal? What if Cain asked God to forgive him for killing Abel? We’ll never know, because Cain didn’t.

And nobody in Noah’s time asked God for forgiveness before they were swept away by the flood. And nobody living in Sodom and Gomorrah asked God either. Fact is, there wasn’t one righteous person living in those cities.

The first instance I know of, in which God forgives people or engages in some semblance thereof, if when Moses asks God to spare the Hebrews from His wrath when they started worshipping a golden calf. Moses in Exodus 32:8-14 implores God to spare them, and God did. James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” This passaged is referenced back to Job 42:8 in which God tells those who mocked Job that Job prayed to Him on their behalf, therefore God would spare them from what He was going to do to them.

The first instance I’m aware of in which God forgives someone who prays to him, is in the Book of Jonah in which the Ninevans, upon hearing from Job that God planned to destroy them for their evil, did things like fast and deny pleasures to themselves. God responds by sparing them.

The idea of God forgiving us is found in the Book of Psalms and in the New Testament. But, the only incident I know of in the New testament of God forgiving someone is when Jesus on the cross says to the condemned man next to him that he will join him in God’s Kingdom, since he acknowledged God’s existence. If so, it is perhaps ironic that, for all the discussion in the Old Testament about forgiveness, we may only know of God forgiving the condemned man next to Jesus.

Perhaps God felt that we didn’t need many examples in the Bible of situations n which He forgave people, who knows? We are left to trusting Him without leaning on our own understanding as provided for in Proverbs 3:5.

John the Baptist was preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

If you turn from evil to do good, that is a sign of forgiveness. God needs good workers.

 

[Murray J]

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalms 32:5 says, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

We know that God may forgive us and those we pray for if He is asked, or somehow addressed. There isn’t one instance that I know of in the Bible, that God forgives someone without being asked. Think of it.

God didn’t forgive Adam and Eve for eating of the Tree of Good and Evil, right? He condemned them to mortality. And it appears they didn’t ask God to forgive them. What if they did? Would God have relented and made them immortal? What if Cain asked God to forgive him for killing Abel? We’ll never know, because Cain didn’t.

And nobody in Noah’s time asked God for forgiveness before they were swept away by the flood. And nobody living in Sodom and Gomorrah asked God either. Fact is, there wasn’t one righteous person living in those cities.

The first instance I know of, in which God forgives people or engages in some semblance thereof, is when Moses asks God to spare the Hebrews from His wrath when they started worshipping a golden calf. Moses in Exodus 32:8-14 implores God to spare them, and God did. James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” This passaged is referenced back to Job 42:8 in which God tells those who mocked Job that Job prayed to Him on their behalf, therefore God would spare them from what He was going to do to them.

The first instance I’m aware of in which God forgives someone who prays to him, is in the Book of Jonah in which the Ninevans, upon hearing from Job that God planned to destroy them for their evil, did things like fast and deny pleasures to themselves. God responds by sparing them.

The idea of God forgiving us is found in the Book of Psalms and in the New Testament. But, the only incident I know of in the New testament of God forgiving someone is when Jesus on the cross says to the condemned man next to him that he will join him in God’s Kingdom, since he acknowledged God’s existence. If so, it is perhaps ironic that, for all the discussion in the Old Testament about forgiveness, we may only know of God forgiving the condemned man next to Jesus.

Perhaps God felt that we didn’t need many examples in the Bible of situations n which He forgave people, who knows? We are left to trusting Him without leaning on our own understanding as provided for in Proverbs 3:5.

He only forgives and cleanses of all unrighteousness once. After that if sin persists there is no more offering for sin. Believer thereafter live without sin or they are not believers and do not know Jesus. (1 John 3:6) This doesn't mean they are perfect.

Imagine a line that goes from -100 to +100. Before a person comes to Jesus he is a sinner and spends his whole life somewhere between -100 an -1. At conversion, Jesus cleanses him of all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) He is now at 0. Now he begins to grow in the stature of Christ for the good works he was created to do. He will progressively be shaped into the goodness of Jesus from +1 up to +100.
He cannot go back into sin because Jesus' sacrifice was done only once and a walk back into sin will put that person back into the -1 to -100 region from which there is then no escape. (Heb 10:26-27)

The new believer lives without any fear of condemnation, in a joyous walk with Jesus.

 

[Murray J]

Everyone (you too) will always continue to sin no matter what happens.
If God is not in communion with you, walking at your side, then you are
walking in sin. And we all are there.

The only difference is some acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness.
Then our continuing sins are not counted.

Christians do not walk in sin. (1 John 3:6) You cannot assume 'we all are there.' You may make a personal statement but surely cannot speak for everyone.