Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
The bible is very plain when it tells us that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). From a biblical perspective there is no difference between remission of sins and forgiveness of sins, for when God forgives us our sins He treats them as if they had been done away with, i.e. remitted and He no longer remembers them. Even sins forgiven under the Old Covenant that were only covered over with the blood of animals, God treated as having been completely removed. God could do that because He knew that when the blood of Christ was finally offered before Him, that those sins would be removed by the blood of Christ as if they had never happened. And so we see the principle, that just as without the shedding of blood that there can be no remission of sins, so it is that without the shedding of blood that there can be no forgiveness of sins either. The above quoted passage of scripture confirms that truth to us, in that it links the shed blood of Christ to the forgiveness of sins that we have received in Him.
1 John 2:12 “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.”
God does not forgive us our sins because He loves us. Rather, He gave us His Son because He loves us, for the scripture tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). And so we see that God forgives us our sins because of the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us, for the scripture quoted above declares plainly that our sins are forgiven us for His name’s sake. In other words, without the shed blood of Jesus there would be no forgiveness for the sins of mankind.
1 John 1:7-9 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle John, equates the forgiveness of our sins to the blood of Christ cleansing us from our sins. We have therefore clearly seen in this section, that without the shed blood of Christ being made available to cleanse us from our sins, we could not receive any forgiveness for our sins. And so it is only those who are either completely ignorant of our redemption through the shed blood of Christ or those who are dishonest about it, that would try proclaim that God’s forgiveness of our sins has nothing to do with the blood of Christ.
Only believers receive forgiveness of sins
Mark 2:5 “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Under the New Covenant, to be cleansed from one’s sins is the same as being forgiven for one’s sins. And so as we have already seen, all believers are forgiven all their old sins when they are born-again. The Lord Jesus obviously knew that truth when He walked on the earth, which is why on occasions He forgave the sins of certain people. Jesus taught us very clearly that He has power as the Son of Man, to forgive sins (Mark 2:10), and in the above quoted passage of scripture we see that truth demonstrated when He forgave the young paralytic his sins. So why did He forgive this young man’s sins? This passage gives us some insight into the answer to that question, for it says that when Jesus “saw their faith” that He forgave the paralytic his sins. We know that it is only those who believe in Jesus that can be saved, and so our Lord clearly recognised that this young man had faith in Him to be saved, because of which Jesus knew that his sins would ultimately be cleansed by His blood, because he would be born-again after Jesus was raised from the dead. And so, that is the reason why Jesus forgave him his sins even though the young man had not even asked Him for forgiveness.
Luke 7:48-50 “Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (49) And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" (50) Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Although Jesus did forgive sins when He was on the earth, He did not forgive everyone’s sins. So why was He selective in this area? It was not because Jesus showed partiality to certain individuals regarding their sins, because the scripture plainly tells us that there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11). Rather, the answer as to why Jesus was selective in the forgiving of sins was because Jesus only forgave the sins of those who He knew had faith in Him as their Saviour. The above quoted passage of scripture confirms that truth to us, because when Jesus forgave this woman’s sins He at the same time confirmed to her that her faith had saved her.
Acts 26:17-18 “I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, (18) to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus reinforced the truth to us that it is only believers that receive forgiveness of their sins, for He links forgiveness of sins to those who are sanctified through their faith in Him as their Lord and Saviour.
Unbelievers die in their sins
John 8:24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
We have seen that only believers can receive forgiveness for their sins, and so obviously unbelievers are precluded from receiving forgiveness for their sins. The Lord Jesus confirmed this particular truth to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, when He stated that those who refused to believe in Him as Lord and Saviour would die in their sins. That simply means that all their sins committed throughout their lives would remain, even though God has made it possible for their sins to be wiped clean with the precious blood of the Lamb. And so, no matter how many times unbelievers may ask God to forgive them for their sins while they are on the earth that will have no effect, for it is only those who have access to the shed blood of Christ that can have their sins forgiven. And no unbelievers have access to the shed blood of Christ.
Luke 12:5 “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
So what is the outcome for unbelievers who do not have their sins forgiven and thus die in their sins? In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus gives us the unequivocal answer to that question, when He says that they will be cast into hell. Our Lord described hell as a place where the fire is never quenched and the worm does not die (Mark 9:46). Hell is a place to be avoided at all costs; nevertheless it can only be avoided by having one’s sins washed in the precious blood of the Lamb.
Michael E.B. Maher
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