Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness’
Is it wrong to ask for forgiveness?
Question: Good day, I hope you are well, My question here is twofold. First, I was taught that we shouldn’t ask for forgiveness; instead, we should thank God for his forgiveness. This, though, feels both right and wrong. This confuses me a bit because nowhere in the Scripture does it say we need to say…
Read MoreCan you be forgiven in old age if you willfully sinned in your youth?
Question: Good day, minister, I have been faced with this question a few times and even got the question recently again, but I never had any real good answer to it. I have read your article about deathbed repentance, but my question doesn’t really extend that far. Whether it is scriptural or not, I refuse…
Read MoreForgive and Forget
by Luther Blackmon An old slave had defied his master’s order not to read the Bible and was being flogged for it. As the whip cut into his flesh, his owner taunted him with: “What can your Bible do for you now, boy?” “It can teach me to forgive master,” he replied. It is sometimes…
Read MoreWhat Must I Do to Go to Heaven?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/What-Must-I-Do-to-Go-to-Heaven.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 19:16-22 I. I was asked, “What must I do to go to Heaven when I die? Please no opinions. Please use the Bible, it is all we have that is the truth.” A. I am impressed that this man only wants a biblical answer. Far too many simply want…
Read MoreThe Blood of Christ
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Blood-of-Christ.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:18-21 I. The blood of Christ is strongly connected with the concept of salvation from sin. A. It has been in the plan of God that Christ should die for mankind 1. Isaiah 53:5 – He was wounded for our transgressions. 2. Zechariah 13:1 – A fountain opened for sin…
Read MoreDoes baptism give continual cleansing?
Question: Hello, I hope you are well. I have a question for you. I was baptized several years ago and when I was baptized I felt like my heart was not into it completely. I went into the baptism knowing that there were sins that I was not going to give up and was going…
Read MoreCan I be redeemed after my sin?
Question: Hi, I’m not sure how to greet you. I’m full of guilt and sadness. I came across this website when I was trying to find out if I could be redeemed. I had sex with my boyfriend. I always wanted to start only after marriage but this came so unexpectedly and led to sin. I’ve…
Read MoreThe Truth About God’s Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Truth-About-Gods-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 5 I. The world is filled with varying and confusing ideas about how God loves us. A. Typically the emphasis is placed so heavily on God’s love that many think that God is incapable of a negative thought against anyone. B. Others see God as so remote and unapproachable that…
Read MoreI Need God
by Doy Moyer “I need God because I am a sinner in need of forgiveness.” This is true, but if we are not careful we might tend to think that were it not for the fact that we have sinned, we really wouldn’t need God all that much. This presents a faulty view of God,…
Read MoreHas This Been God’s Will Always?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Has-This-Been-Gods-Will-Always.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreThe One Thing that Matters
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-One-Thing-that-Matters.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 11:5-13 I. How do you pray? What do you pray for? A. A young Chinese preacher asked me to explain Luke 11:9-10 better so that he could teach others in his area better B. God is all knowing, but God expects us to ask 1. Consider how many people won’t even…
Read MoreIs it a slap in God’s face to ask for forgiveness since Jesus already died to forgive sins?
Question: Hi minister, I’ve recently heard of the dispensation of grace and it’s something I’ve never heard before. I’ve read and been told by those who teach it that it is basically a slap in God’s face or rejecting the finished work in Christ to ask for forgiveness of God when we sin because he…
Read MoreTurning Forgiveness Around
by Greg Gwin We hear it frequently in the news these days. It has been a common defense in some high-profile criminal cases. The basic argument is that people can be excused for committing even hideous crimes if they can demonstrate that something awful happened in their past. Unfortunately, this approach has proven successful in…
Read MoreWhat If I Fail Again?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/What-If-I-Fail-Again.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreWalking in a Manner Worthy of the Lord
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Walking-in-a-Manner-Worthy-of-the-Lord.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreConsider the Lord’s Loving Kindness
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Consider-the-Lords-Loving-Kindness.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 107 I. Whatever our life, we need to acknowledge God loving kindness toward us – Psalms 107:1-3 A. Many talk of Psalms 107 as a song of God redeeming the nation of Israel from Babylonian captivity. 1. But this isn’t about a nation. It is about groups or categories of…
Read MoreDid the apostles have the right to forgive sins?
Question: Dear sir, A question was posted a decade or so ago on John 20:21-23 and whether or not all men could forgive sins. I couldn’t see that the responder actually addressed what was meant by the Apostles having the authority to forgive sins, except to say that they could bind or loose what they…
Read MoreUnconditional Love
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/Unconditional-Love.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 136:1-26 I. I was reading a book that began to speak of the love of God. A. As many denominational writers do, he referred to the unconditional love of God. B. By this, he and others believe that God loves all people, no matter how they behave. 1. Often a parallel…
Read MoreOur Sin
by Ethan R. Longhenry “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him…
Read MoreYesterday
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Yesterday.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 90 I. Yesterday only exists in fading memories, worn out photographs, and history books A. It is a collection of, often times, imperfect records kept in imperfect medium II. Yet, it is also one of the finest learning centers available, if we are willing to go there to learn A. Paul…
Read MoreHow can a girl and boy be pure again after committing fornication?
Question: It really amazed me to cross your path this afternoon. I’m a 24-year-old youth who has been seeking the correct answer about how can boyfriend and girlfriend be clean and pure again before God after they have committed fornication. I am in a similar situation for a long time now, just as how this…
Read MoreUnconditional Love?
by Terry Benton in Answering Religious Error, April 15, 2015 That God’s love is “unconditional” means one thing to one person and a different thing to someone else. The Bible does not use the expression “unconditional love” but does imply it. God “so loved” the world (John 3:16). That would mean that love is what…
Read MoreWas baptism commanded in the Old Testament at the time of John the Baptist?
Question: Was baptism commanded in the Old Covenant at the time of John the Baptist? I thought baptism was not commanded in the Old Testament for salvation. I have always heard that baptism was not commanded in the Old Testament. Am I missing something here? Mark 1:4 mentions John’s baptism of repentance for the remission…
Read MoreForgiveness Is Unfair
by Ken Green “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, “’ do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’ ” (Matthew 18:21–22, ESV). Before we can take forgiveness seriously, we…
Read MoreHave We Forgotten Our Shame?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Have-We-Forgotten-Our-Shame.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 44 I. It is surprising the odd ideas people have about forgiveness A. Forgiveness is the dismissal of any debt or obligation to me 1. I cannot forgive someone’s sin. a. This is only something God can do, because our sins incur a penalty, which God – not you or I…
Read MoreCan you break a covenant with Satan and turn back to God?
Question: Hello sir, I have quite a few questions if that’s alright. Is it possible to make a covenant with Satan and break a covenant with God? Can you break the covenant with Satan and turn back to God? Does God ever lose hope in someone and cut them off completely? Does God love all…
Read MoreHow can my sins be forgiven without receiving salvation?
Question: Good day, Acts 2:38 says after obeying the gospel our sins will be forgiven and we will receive salvation (gift of Holy Spirit). Please expound on how my sins can be forgiven without receiving salvation. Thanks. Answer: “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus…
Read MoreWhat Is “Forgiveness?”
by Jefferson David Tant We are all familiar with the New Testament’s teaching on “forgiveness.” The book has many exhortations, examples, and commandments concerning this practice. I’m sure we would all agree that the greatest example of forgiveness would be the words uttered on the cross as Christ is about to die a most horrible…
Read MoreI feel unworthy of being forgiven
Question: I know you don’t want to hear this from a 19-year-old teenage girl. I’m just lost and carrying a huge burden on my back of guilt and shame. Romans 6 tells me I’m no longer a slave to sin, but somehow I feel unworthy of that title. Answer: I don’t know anyone who deserves…
Read MoreAutomatic Forgiveness
by Robert M Hartian Sentry Magazine, June 2002 Schoolmates hung a sign on a high school in West Paducah, Kentucky that read “we forgive you Mike!” Mike Carmeal, 14, the day before, had killed three of his classmates. Dennis Prager, a Jew, covered this story in the Wall Street Journal (December 15, 1997). This immediate…
Read MoreHow do you reconcile with someone who refuses to forgive you?
Question: Hello, I am seeking your advice on how to reconcile with someone who refuses to forgive you even when you admit that you were wrong and try to make amends. Recently I allowed frustration to get the better of me and had responded to my mom in a way that I should not have.…
Read MoreHow can I get intimacy with God back after sinning?
Question: I struggle with the belief that I can’t be intimate with the Lord after sinning. I know that God forgives, but I struggle with believing that I can’t be intimate with Him again. An example would be there are two friends named Bob and Steve. Bob and Steve are really close. They talk to…
Read MoreLessons from Children
by Jefferson David Tant In reading through the Bible, it is worth noting that we find no rebukes, criticisms, or condemnations of children. On the contrary, children are presented to us as models for us to imitate and follow. Consider some words Christ and Peter said concerning children. “At that time the disciples came to…
Read MoreGod Couldn’t Forgive My Sins
by Jefferson David Tant Some whose lives have been so sinful and far removed from God think they are so bad that God could not forgive them. But the Bible says otherwise. Whether one is a member of the “Hell’s Angels” gang or was a member of Adolph Hitler’s or Joseph Stalin’s or Muhammad’s armies…
Read MoreHow can we be forgiven of our fornication?
Question: Hello minister Hamilton, I reached out to you a few years back when I had questions and I wanted to get baptized into Christ and follow God. Well, these past two years I have been living with my girlfriend and we just found out we are expecting a child in May. We are both…
Read MoreIs it right to shun a woman who married a man who is in prison for murder, but who has since become a Christian?
Question: Hi, I’m not sure how to even ask the question. So I’ll explain my concerns. I’m a Christian, being a member of the church of Christ. A sister of mine has married a prisoner. He’s in for murder. She met him through Bible study with a group from a church of Christ. She’s known…
Read MoreIs the Christian Obligated to Forgive the Sinner Who Will Not Repent?
by Curtis A. Cates The above question has often been asked of this scribe. Every accountable being at times sins against others; some sin publicly, even against the church. Clearly, those who repent and ask for forgiveness are to be fully forgiven. But, not everyone repents and asks for forgiveness. Does God require us to…
Read MoreMust I pay my friend money so she can forgive me?
Question: I want to enquire if it’s right to pay money to a friend who claims I offended her. I didn’t borrow anything from her, but she is demanding money so she can forgive me. Answer: “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is…
Read MoreDo we forgive even though the elders refuse to change?
Question: “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4). After reading this passage, it causes me…
Read MoreForgiveness and Consequence
by Doy Moyer One of the fallouts of what is being called “cancel culture” is a marked lack of mercy and forgiveness. If you’ve ever said or done something that culture considers anathema, then you are done. Canceled. From this point on, you will have zero credibility with little to zero chance of redeeming yourself.…
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