There Is Forgiveness with God: A Summary of Verses That Speak of Forgiveness

Psalm 130:4
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

Acts 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
  
Acts 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Psalm 32 KJV

32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

² Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
³ When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
⁵ I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
⁶ For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
⁷ Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
⁸ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
⁹ Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Psalm 51 KJV

51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
¹⁸ Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

Daniel 9:19
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

Matthew 18 KJV

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

James 5:15
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Jeremiah 31:34
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Amos 7:2
And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

This is fulfilled in and through Christ alone at the Cross:
Leviticus 4:31
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

Leviticus 4:35
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Leviticus 6:7
And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.

Leviticus 19:22
And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

The Awesome Doctrine of Absolute Predestination

God foreordains whatsoever comes to past in the past, present and future of what happens in the universe of all things.  Predestination is a reference to God’s decision on our eternal destinies.  It is in regards to whether we spend eternity in hell or heaven.  The New Testament refers to predestination of elect sinners.  God chooses whether we end up in hell or in heaven.  He chooses in advance of our lives or before our lives.  God’s foreordination of things includes election and reprobation.  Some think God chooses on the basis of whether we accept or reject Christ.  This would be an Arminian doctrine.  But the Bible says its not because of any works of righteousness that we have done but because of Him who calls or by His mercy He saved us.  The London Baptist Confession of 1689 says,

Chapter 3: Of God's Decree

1._____ God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.
( Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5; Acts 4:27, 28; John 19:11; Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3-5 )

2._____ Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything, because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.
( Acts 15:18; Romans 9:11, 13, 16, 18 )

3._____ By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.
( 1 Timothy 5:21; Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:5, 6; Romans 9:22, 23; Jude 4 )

4.______These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
( 2 Timothy 2:19; John 13:18 )

5._____ Those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto.
( Ephesians 1:4, 9, 11; Romans 8:30; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Romans 9:13, 16; Ephesians 2:5, 12 )

6._____ As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto; wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation; neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.
( 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10; Romans 8:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:5; John 10:26; John 17:9; John 6:64 )

7._____ The doctrine of the high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men attending the will of God revealed in his Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election; so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel.
( 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 5; 2 Peter 1:10; Ephesians 1:6; Romans 11:33; Romans 11:5, 6, 20; Luke 10:20 )

Satan Can Never Be Forgiven

Matthew 25
³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy^[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer Him,^[d] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (NKJV).

Eve: A Study of Women in the Bible

Eve was made from Adam's rib (Gen. 2:18-222) and she was named by Adam (Gen. 3:20).  She was deceived by Satan (Gen. 3:1-24) and she leads Adam to sin (1 Tim. 2:13, 14).  Looking at Eve's life we see what we ought not to do.  We see a woman that listened to Satan over listening to God.  We ought never to listen to Satan over listening to God.  Satan is after man's interests not God's interests. 

A woman ought to be someone who is faithful to God and His Word.  She should be someone who listens to God's Word over anything else.  Women ought to be godly, holy and innocent in things of the Lord.  They ought not to be entangled in evil things or an adviser of wickedness. 

They ought to be women who repent of their sins and forgiving their enemies and wearing the whole armor of God.  They ought to be clothed in the white robes of Christ's righteousness and living by faith.  We all should trust the good Lord for all things.  He supplies all our needs through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  We ought to be faithful in the small and great things alike.  Women ought not to hate one another but love as Jesus loved.  Women should be examples in faith, love, hope, charity and lovingkindnesses.

Love God, Neighbor and Enemies

We have been chosen by the Lord of hosts by His Spirit and Word through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone because of Scripture alone for the glory of God alone.  There is no one who can take the precious divine truth of His gospel from us.  We are always His the first time He made us His.

We are enabled to love our Triune Lord, neighbor and enemies because of God's love to us.  Loving God is the first commandment (Mt. 22:37, 38) and gives us boldness (1 John 4:17-19).  We ought to love Christ because it is the sign of true faith (John 8:42) and seen in service (2 Cor. 5:14).  The second commandment is loving others (Mt. 22:37, 38) because it is commanded by Christ Himself (John 13:34).

People hate the God of the Bible by nature (Rom. 1:30), the gospel (1 Thess. 2:14-18) and the light of Christ (John 3:19-21).  I would say that by nature we hate each other but it must be overcome by kindness (1 Sam. 26:18-21).  We are called to forgive our enemies (Mt. 6:12-15), pray for them (Luke 23:24) and love them (Luke 6:27, 25).  There is an example of hate in the Bible of Saul against David (1 Sam. 18:29).  David was overcome by love because he did not kill Saul when he could have.

Love is a supernatural act of the will by the Spirit who is in us.  We ought to love because it is the best thing for us to do and the greatest of all good things we can do.  Sometimes love is knowing when to back off.  Sometimes love is knowing to do nothing.  Sometimes that's the hardest thing to do.

Loving our enemies does not mean we should let them destroy us.  It is standing up for Jesus that we love our enemies as ourselves.  If we forgive our enemies, it might make them sin more against us.   We ought to stand our ground and fight for Jesus by loving them.
 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the solemn watchword hear;
If while ye sleep He suffers, away with shame and fear;
Where’er ye meet with evil, within you or without,
Charge for the God of battles, and put the foe to rout.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day.
Ye that are brave now serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, each soldier to his post,
Close up the broken column, and shout through all the host:
Make good the loss so heavy, in those that still remain,
And prove to all around you that death itself is gain.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song.
To those who vanquish evil a crown of life shall be;
They with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.

Jesus submitted to death because He freely gave Himself for us and freely laid down His precious life.  No one took His life from Him but He freely laid it down and He freely took it up again by His bodily resurrection.  Jesus loved us with an everlasting love that was not known until He came and gave His life for His people.  No one can separate us from Jesus and His love.  Amen.

When I Think I First Believed

I use to think I first believed in 2003 or 2004, but I know I made a bold decision to follow Christ then.  But I think I believed before that.  I remember going to a church called "Ascension Church."  It was a Roman Catholic Church and close to the beach in New Jersey.  After the Mass we went outside (which was before I made a "decision" for Jesus), I met a blond haired young lady.  To be honest, she looked like an angel to me.  She shared with me about things of the Bible and I sinned as I spoke to her, but I forget what I said.  I think I cursed out loud.  I think she told me to ask for forgiveness and I did out loud.  I said "Lord, forgive me."  I think that was the time I gained a sense of asking for forgiveness to God:

 (Acts 26:18, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me).

 

(Ephesians 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace...").  

(Colossians 1:14, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins...").

A Hymn To Dwell On

Here is a hymn to mediate on.  God bless you as you do this:

I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith, and love, and every grace, Might more of His salvation know, And seek more earnestly His face.  'Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer; But it has been in such a way As almost drove me to despair.  I hoped that in some favoured hour At once He'd answer my request; And, by His love's constraining power, Subdue my sins, and give me rest.  Instead of this, He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart, And let the angry pow'rs of hell Assault my soul in every part.  Yes, more, with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woe, Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blessed my gourds, and laid me low.  "Lord, why is this?"  I trembling cried, "Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?"  "Tis in this way," the Lord replied, "I answer prayer for grace and faith.  "These inward trails I employ, From self and pride to set thee free, And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may'st seek thy all in Me."  (Trinity Hymnal, Baptist Edition, 732).