Matt Black said:
Eliyahu, I would direct you to what GE has said on the subject of forgiveness. Yes, I know (despite your implication, which I resent, that I'm not a True Believer(TM)) that all my sins have been dealt with, paid for and forgiven at the Cross, and that the moment I turned to Christ, all my sins, past present and future were/are/will be forgiven.
If you have such spiritual experience and establish the relationship with God, your view will be completely changed.
But that doesn't alter the fact that when I sin, my relationship with God through Jesus is damaged - I have hurt Him and it is right and proper that I seek to be reconciled with Him by apologising.i don't particularly want to get into the distinction between salvation and sanctification here, but suffice it to say that, although for salvation an act of repentance is required, for continued sanctification, continued repentance is required.
Salvation and Sanctification are not much different, correct.
That's how I read I John 1:9-2:2. Let me take an analogy from marriage: when I married my wife I made a covenant with her that stands once and for all and brought the marriage into being. But I also recognise that I offend and hurt her frequently by my actions and, in order for our relationship and marriage to be healthy, it's important that I apologise for those hurts, seek her forgiveness and thus restore the relationship. It's the same with God and me.
There is much much difference between human and divine. God's mercy is indefinite. When you CONFESS your sins to God, you better get the answer from Him. YOu better confess your sins and pray
until you get the forgiveness from God. Then God will give you the forgiveness. But He doesn't say " Hey Matt, your prayer reached the minimum limit that I can forgive you! You are a good man now. I am gonna forgive you!"
But God will tell you that " Hi Matt, your sins were forgiven when my Son Jesus died at the Cross. That sin you specifically asked the forgiveness for was included in my forgiveness at the Cross."
If you don't repent and confess your sins enough, then you will not hear the voice from God, you will remain in the status of unforgiven continuously. You will not have the peace in your mind. God would not help your life. However, if you repent and confess your sins until you hear from Him the forgiveness, you will find the peace.
The difference here is that God forgive you retrospectively by reminding you that the Redemption at the Cross was good enough for your sins Once For All. God doesn't provide another Cross. If you cannot believe the First Cross, then another Cross will not be effective either.
This is why it is important that the preacher must explain about the Cross when he mention the sins to be forgiven. If the priest ask God to forgive the sins, then never bring the good news that all the sins were already forgiven at the Cross, he is ignorant about the Gospel.
If you had the actual experience to hear the voice from God, how did God say to you when He forgave you?
Many people pour out their requests to God that He may forgive their sins, then they guess that their sins may have been forgiven because they prayed enough, then disappear from God!. Praying until you get the answer from God is quite different from such habitual practice that one pray and GUESS God forgave his sins because he prayed quite a lot.
Not the Guess, but the Actual voice is the start of the guidance in daily life.
