When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past,present and future?

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

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(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one
gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John

                                                   

Answers to Bible Questions

Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible

(Q)  When someone becomes a true Christian believer, are all their sins forgiven, past, present and future?

(A)  The answer to this this question may be offensive to some of my readers. My intent is not to offend anyone, but to get to the truth concerning this question.After reading other articles on the internet about this subject I feel there are some misconceptions about repentance and forgiveness of sins.

So you know where I am coming from its important you understand that I teach the Bible from a dispensational point of view. I teach the Bible according to II Timothy 2:15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. “All” the Bible is God’s Holy Word and it’s true down to the very last detail. I am a true Christian Believer having been saved by the shed blood of Christ Jesus my precious Lord and Saviour. However, I am also a sinner saved by the Grace of God and a saint saved by the Grace of God.

Before I begin to give you “my” answer to the question presented above let’s look at what “some others” have written on the internet about this topic.

The following two paragraphs were written by a Christian woman on the internet:

 I’ve just discovered a teaching in some churches that is SO insidious and deceitful I have to speak out against it. Some have correctly labeled it the ‘cheap grace movement’ and it is leading multitudes into hell. It’s the newest lie of the enemy. I gotta hand it to him; it’s pretty slick!

The idea is this: You don’t need to repent and ask God’s forgiveness when you get saved. All you need to do is ‘believe the gospel message.’ Once you do, you are under grace and all your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. And once you’re saved, you never have to repent of your sins because they’re all covered.

The next three paragraphs were written by a Christian man on the internet:

I am able to comprehend the “sea of forgetfulness” when I consider the breadth and the depth and the vastness of the sea. The problem is that my own sin often eludes me. Therefore I am to go to the Father in prayer and ask Him to seek out any and all my sin and bring it to my attention and then it is up to me to ask Him for His forgiveness of that sin.

What a concept to read and understand, a “sea of forgetfulness.” And if I am correct, the vastness of our oceans would not be able to hold the sin of all the people on this earth. Now that, is a lot of sin. And to think for one moment, that the Lord God knows this and still forgives us if we ask Him to.

I know, I am born-again to Jesus Christ and I have nailed my old self to His cross at Calvary. Thus, if I sin and ask His forgiveness for it, He will. And that is according to His promise that He made in that verse in Jeremiah. There is this problem though. There are people that will say to themselves, “Well, then I can go on and sin more and still be forgiven and still go to heaven!” Let me caution you on that. The Lord God knows the intent of your heart. So if you walk to the front of the church and say you want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…with this idea to sin anyway, in your heart…are you then truly saved?

The Christian woman says anyone teaching the doctrine that all sins are forgiven, past, present and future at the time of salvation are leading multitudes into hell. Is this a true statement?

The Christian man says that when he sins it’s up to him to ask God to forgive him for that sin. Is this a true statement?

Actually, what this Christian woman and man said above are false. According to the Bible “all” of our sins “are” forgiven when we “believe” the gospel of our salvation. Also the word repentance is misused and misunderstood by the Christian man in his statement above. Sorrowful repentance is not required when you sin in order to have that sin forgiven.

Now don’t get all upset with me until I have time to explain what the Bible really says about all this.

To start then, let’s look at a few different scriptures from the Bible about the forgiveness of our sins. The first one is Acts 2:36-38: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These verses say that repentance and water baptism are required for the forgiveness of sins along with faith in Jesus Christ. Also notice that Peter was talking to the “house of Israel” or the Jews.

Now let’s look at Ephesians 1:3-7 about forgiveness of sins: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. These verses say that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. Notice it does not say anything about repentance and water baptism for forgiveness of sins, but only the “shed blood” is for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Acts 2:36-38 and Ephesians 1:3-7  there are two different ways to receive the forgiveness of sin. So what do we do? Pick the one you like the best and go with that one? Well, NO. There is a simple solution and the solution to this problem will also help us properly answer our original question at the beginning of this article.

The solution to the above problem and many other problems people see in the Bible is this: God say’s in 11 Timothy 2:15 we must “rightly divide” God’s Word and in the Greek it means to “cut in a straight line.”  God say’s in His Word to properly understand it we “must” cut His Word somewhere in a straight line. Where should we cut it then? Well, let’s look at the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 which says:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God had a special purpose for the “Earth” and the “Heaven.”

For now you need to know that God has TWO very important programs that He has put in place for His dealings with mankind down through the ages of time. One is called the EARTHLY PROGRAM and the other one is called the HEAVENLY PROGRAM. Now the important thing to know is that you “cannot” mix these two programs together because if you do you will have nothing but confusion. This is why God tells us to “rightly divide” His Word. We “must” divide the EARTHLY PROGRAM from the HEAVENLY PROGRAM and if we do the Bible becomes much easier to understand. This is where most churches are off track and I believe it’s the reason many have developed a misconception about repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

To make this simple as possible all the Bible is Holy, accurate, true, good and righteous, but it is “NOT all for our obedience. The EARTHLY PROGRAM runs from Genesis 1:1 through the book of John in the New Testament and they are for our learning, Romans 15:4: ⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. This program is basically about and for the Jewish nation of Israel. The book of Acts is a transitional book from the “Earthly” program to the “Heavenly” program. Then the HEAVENLY PROGRAM starts in Romans and run through Philemon and is about the one new man, both Jew and Gentile called the Body of Christ and this HEAVENLY PROGRAM is for our obedience and doctrine. This program was started by Christ from the Heavens when He called Paul our Apostle for today to start the Dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-9.   After the Rapture of the church the “Heavenly” program is over and the EARTHLY program will start up again where it left off with the calling of Paul and the day of grace. This Part of the EARTHLY PROGRAM will run from Hebrews through Revelation and it will be in force again during the time of the tribulation. The dispensation of the grace of God is over at the time of the Rapture.

The “Earthly” program was put on “Hold” after Israel rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God their Messiah, Romans 7-11: ⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. ⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Because Israel rejected Christ their messiah, God temporarily stopped the “Earthly” program and began a new “Heavenly” program through the Apostle Paul called the Dispensation of the Grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-7: ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: ³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: ⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. God did this to make the Jews jealous because this new “Heavenly” program was all about God’s grace for salvation; it required no works as it did under the “Earthly” program.

While Jesus Christ was on the “Earth” in the flesh He told His 12 Apostles to stay away from the Gentile people and go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6: ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15:24 Christ told a Gentile woman the same thing: ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

In the above paragraph you can see that while Christ was on the “Earth” He was only dealing with the “House of Israel” and not the Gentile people. The “House of Israel” is the “Jewish nation of Israel” which was under the “Earthly program.”

Some of the other things associated with the “Earthly” program are as follows: Salvation required “Faith plus works;” It was all about the law; It required Repentance and water baptism for salvation; those under this program had an “Earthly” hope and “Earthly” blessings; It was about prophecy; It was about the Gospel of the Kingdom; It was about Christ “Earthly” ministry; It was about the Second coming of Christ to the “Earth;” It was about “Sign gifts;” it was about the Great commission of Matthew 28:16-20. These are only a few of the thing under the “Earthly” program.

If you are wondering how all this information is connected to our original question, hang in there, I hope to connect it all together soon. You need to understand that there is a big difference between the “Earthly” and “Heavenly” programs because “today” we get all of our doctrine from Paul’s Epistles alone.

As I said before the “Earthly” program has been put on “Hold.” It was put on “Hold” around two thousand years ago. The “Heavenly” program took the place of the “Earthly” program and is in force today. This “Heavenly” program started with the calling of “Saul” of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. This calling of “Saul” came from our Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial and resurrection back to “Heaven” in glory.  Saul’s name was later changed to “Paul.” As Saul this man was Jesus Christ worst enemy or persecutor. But, Christ was going to change “Saul” from His worst enemy to His Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 9:13-17:  ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

So this man called “Saul” became “Paul” the Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts 13:9:  ⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, Romans 11:13:  ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Very few people understand or believe that Paul was any different from the 12 Apostles. But again there is a big, big difference because the 12 Apostles were under the law of the “Earthly” program, while Christ used Paul ( Apostle of one) to start the new “Heavenly” program.  Most people do not see or get this change in the programs.

11 Timothy 3:16 say’s: ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Now, Paul say’s by inspiration of God that we “today” under this new “Heavenly” program “do not” follow Christ in the flesh anymore, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:  ¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Christ in the flesh was under the “Earthly” program. That is why we do not follow Him under that Program, but we now follow Him according to the new “Heavenly” program which is for all people “today” and was for all people for the last two thousand years.

Paul makes a very important statement in 1Timothy 1:15-16: ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them “which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”  What Paul is saying here is this: “Today,” under this new “Heavenly” program, he, “Paul” is the pattern you must be following and believe if you want to receive eternal life. You will not find eternal life under the “Earthly” program anymore.

Another important scripture is in Romans 2:16: ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. To put this another way, Paul is saying that Christ Jesus gave him (Paul) a different gospel to preach than He (Christ) gave to the 12 Apostles while He (Christ) was on the “Earth.” God is going to judge all people who have lived for the last two thousand years under the new “Heavenly” program according to “Paul’s gospel. This is what all people “today” need to understand. There are at least two different gospels as we see in Galatians 2:6-9: ⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: ⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) ⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. The gospel of the uncircumcision given to Paul was about grace under the “Heavenly” program. The gospel of the circumcision given to Peter was about the law under the “Earthly” program. Big difference between these two gospels!!

In Romans 1:1-2 we read; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures).” Here the parenthetical statement (v. 2) makes it quite clear that the gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, was “promised afore” or before the time of the apostle Paul. It is also quite clear that the promise of this gospel can be found “in the holy scriptures,” as recorded “by the prophets.” This gospel of God (according to verses. 3-4) is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ, But in Romans 16:25  we read: of
power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel … the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”

Now for those who claim that there is only one gospel, this should present a problem. How could “one gospel,” which was “promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures” Romans 1:2 be the same gospel “which was kept secret since the world began” Romans 16:25? The fact is that there is indeed a similarity here, but there is a great distinction also; which must be observed if the Word of God is to be clarified and the child of God is to be edified. Again, the distinction between Romans 1:1-2 and Romans 16:25 is simply Romans 1:1-2 is under the “Earthly” program, the law and Romans 16:25 is under the “Heavenly” program or grace.

Please don’t think we put Paul above Christ, we do not, but you need to understand that Christ made Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, Romans 11:13: ¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Most people just don’t get it. Paul is our Apostle and in his writings we find God’s instructions for eternal life. I Corinthians 14:37-38:  ³⁷: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. If you want to be ignorant of God’s program for us today then don’t acknowledge Paul’s writings.

Paul was given the gospel of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” Ephesians 3:1-9:  ¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:⁷ Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;⁹ And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The only salvation message today is this, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

“Today” you must “believe” in the death, burial and resurrection all by grace through faith for salvation, Ephesians 2:4-9:  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

I am trying to make the point that “today” our salvation comes only by faith or belief which are the same thing, Ephesians 1:13-14:  ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye “believed,” ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Now, what I want you to understand is the fact that repentance is not mentioned in the salvation message under the “Heavenly” program. God through Paul says when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you BELIEVED, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the EARNEST OR GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the time of our REDEMPTION. No repentance mentioned here. Why not? Because Repentance just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. This repentance to salvation is a “ONE” time event. Once you BELIEVE you have changed your mind and start following God’s way and are sealed until the time of your REDEMPTION .

When most people talk about repentance they think it means you need to be sorry and then God will forgive their sins. That is not true under this “Heavenly” program!! If we need to have sorrowful repentance to be forgiven of our sins, just how much sorrow do we need to have before God will forgive us? How would you know if God really forgave you? No one can have enough sorrow to receive forgiveness of sins today. Why? Again, under this “Heavenly” program God through Paul say’s in Ephesians 1:7:⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. It’s all by the “grace of God” just by “BELIEVING.” No sorrowful repentance required here!!

There is no sorrowful repentance required because “repentance” just means to change your mind or turn away from the way of Satan and start living the way of God. So when someone BELIEVES the gospel of their salvation today, they automatically change their mind and start following God’s way. At this point ALL sins are forgiven, past, present and future because you BELIEVED the gospel of your salvation as it say’s in Ephesian 1:13-14 which I already quoted above. God never withholds forgiveness of your sins until you show sorrowful repentance. If that were true then sorrowful repentance would become a work which you need to do in order to receive forgiveness. NO,NO,NO. Titus 3:5:  ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Galatians 2:21: ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Repentance was required under the “law” or the “Earthly” program, but not the “Heavenly” program.

Do we need to REPENT every time we sin? NO, because all sin has already been paid for at the cross and ALL forgiveness of sin is applied to each person when they are reconciled back to God “just by BELIEVING the gospel of their salvation.”  Forgiveness is also a onetime event. Should we tell God we are sorry when we sin. Yes, you can do that, but it is not necessary. But if you do, don’t think your sorrow has anything to do with forgiveness of your sin or that God Is withholding forgiveness until you are sorry for your sins. If you believe that, you are lacking Faith in this day of grace under the “Heavenly” program.

Let’s go to II Corinthians 5 and read verses 18-21: ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

God was in Christ not imputing the trespasses of the world against them because of what Christ did for all mankind at Calvary. All sin has already been paid for at the cross and He is not holding those sins against anyone because again Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. He does not need your help by repenting for sin that was paid for by His shed blood, but there is one catch here. According to the above verses we who are BELIEVERS have a job to do for Christ. We are to teach the message of RECONCILIATION  (NOT REPENTANCE) to unbelievers because the blessings of RECONCILIATION “do not apply” until the unbeliever becomes a “BELIEVER”. That is why it say’s we are “AMBASSADORS” for Christ. Reconciliation does not automatically apply to the unbeliever. They need to hear and BELIEVE the message of RECONCILIATION before they can be RECONCILED back to God. This message is our great commission because it is under the Heavenly Program. If anyone does not “Believe” the message of Reconciliation before they die, then they remain in their sins and will end up in the lake of fire.

Without understanding that God has these two beautiful programs (the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY) you can never properly understand the Holy Bible, the Word of God.

Colossians 2:12-14: ¹² Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. All trespasses have already been forgiven at the CROSS; you just need to believe it.

“True Christian Believer” KNOW they do not have a license to sin, but liberty to serve. A true believer does not want to sin, but they want to do what is right and good and pleasing to God. When I sin I tell God THANK YOU for your throne of GRACE. True Christians don’t take sinning lightly .Grace is a beautiful blessing from God and we did nothing to deserve it, we don’t treat it lightly.

In conclusion, again we shall quote Ephesians 2:8-9:   ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. There is not going to be “ANY BOASTING IN HEAVEN.”

Will you be able to boast to God in heaven that you did your part for salvation, namely repenting every day for your sins?   Repenting can become a work when you have to do it every day. Salvation today is 100% on what Christ did for you, you cannot add anything to it or you don’t have salvation. Christ does ALL the saving, you do all the BELIEVING!!

Have a good one, Maranatha

In Christian love,

John