"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
I couldn’t agree more. I just wonder about the forgivness part though. I have always understood that we are already forgiven by the blood of Jesus when He shed it on the Cross. But, it is up to us to embrace that forgivness. For entance I can forgive someone, But if they do not except the forgivness I offer them then they are bound to the guilt by not excepting it. Is that right? Repentance it a heart of exceptance that we are guilty of sin.and know that we need to be forgiven. Maybe I just answered my own question, but would love to hear your response.
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We do have to repent of our sins in order to be saved from hell; that was the heart of John the Baptist message and Jesus: Repent, for the Kingdom is near. But we also see that we must confess our sins to one another. As Christians we will sin in areas in our lives and we must keep a humble attitude and repent from those things and ask the Lord for deliverance.
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Let me ask this please; “How does God forgive sinners?” God forgives people that ask for forgiveness and people who do not ask for forgiveness are not forgiven. Will God ask you to do something that He does not do?
God’s model of dealing with wrongs committed against him can be found in the book of 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin , and will heal their land.”
The act of confession and then forgiveness is also to be employed amongst believers. Consider the instruction of the Lord Jesus:
‘Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him,’ (Luke 17:3).’
The operative phrase there (and similarly in verses cited above including 1 John 1:9 and 2 Chronicles 7:14) is, ‘If he repents, then forgive him. ’”
So here its very obvious that we must forgive everybody who sincerely apologizes to us while we are not obligated to forgive people who do not seek our forgiveness.
Then remember in Matthew 18:21-22, what the Lord told Peter.
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven”.
Finally, I would like to conclude, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender- hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:26-27 , 31-32).
John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will obey what I command”. Jesus said.
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