I recently had a few discussions with people because I said I believe every person, saved or unsaved has already had their sins forgiven. For some reason this seems to be a tender nerve. So I want expound on my views a little more. Imagine a scale going from -100 all the way to +100.
-100 <————————- 0 ————————-> +100
Before you got saved, where on the scale would you find yourself? Your sins would place you in the negative part of the scale. Like with a credit card. If you owe money, you are in the red. Then Jesus came and this was His message:
Jer 33:8 ‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
Now if Jesus came to pardon your debt, where on the scale would that put you? At 0 or at +100? If I pay off my debt on my credit card, it means I owe nothing but I also don’t have extra because my balance is 0. Forgiveness also just places you at 0 on the scale. The debt of sin of the entire world was forgiven in Christ. The entire world sits at 0. Does that mean the entire world is saved? NO! Why not? Because 0 is not the requirement to enter a relationship with the Father.
Mat 5:20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
To enter into relationship with the Father you need to be at +100 on the scale. You only get to +100 by grace through faith. All your debts have been cleared, but without faith you don’t receive the gift of righteousness that puts you at +100. See Rom 1:16-17. Sin was the thing that stopped you from being able to have a relationship with the Father. Jesus came and dealt with sin, removing the obstacle to relationship. But just because there is no hindrance left doesn’t mean you automatically have a relationship now. That requires faith.
So what happens when an unbeliever dies with the forgiveness of their sins totally provided for? Well, they die at 0. They die without relationship with the Father.
Mat 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Eternal life is not found at 0 on the scale. If my bank balance says 0 I cannot rest. I can only rest when my balance shows I have enough. Eternal life is to know God! (John 17:3). That is found way over on the opposite side of the scale in the positive end. Forgiveness, which was mercifully provided for thousands of years before I even sinned once, brought me to 0. Now through faith the gift of righteousness has brought me to +100 and a relationship with the Father. Is that not good news? Being on 0 is good news, but 0 is not the entire gospel. It’s only the invitation to it! +100 however, is really good news!
Realize you are not just at 0 on the scale, you are at +100! You are the righteousness of God in Christ! 0 doesn’t sit at the right-hand of God in Christ (Eph 2:5-6). 0 doesn’t have every spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph 1:3). 0 has not been provided with everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). 0 is not a heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ (Rom 8:17). +100 on the other hand, HAS!
It’s time you realize where on the scale you really are…
Grace and peace be multiplied to you all!
Cornel
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13 Responses to All Forgiven? All Saved?
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"Your life is transformed to the degree that your mind is renewed. Cornel's book goes a long way to removing the hindrances to that renewal."
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Hey. So I’m totally on the same page with you on this. But this is a question I’m struggling with, and I figure I’d ask it publicly for anyone else who has this question too.
Under the message that says, “Everyone is already forgiven.” What are your thoughts on 1 John 1:9 that say forgiveness comes after confession of sin?
That’s one of the things I’ve been trying to work out because I preach this same stuff, but I always have that question in the back of my head whenever I say it asking, “Wait, but if all are already forgiven, why did John say that to be forgiven you must confess your sin?”
short simple and clear.
Hey Daniel
I don’t think there is any one analogy that is going to explain every single detail of salvation and its accompanying processes in such a way that we can fully grasp what actually transpired. But your question is valid none the less. Have you considered Rom 10:3-4? Paul says that to be saved you have to confess Jesus as Lord. No mention of confessing sin there. But lets look if I can make 1 John 1:9 fit into my analogy.
We know the word sin means to miss the mark. So even if you are at 0 on my scale with all your sins forgiven, you actually still haven’t hit the mark. At 0 all your failed attempts to hit the mark are disregarded. But that still leaves you in a position where you are yet to hit the mark. So what do you confess? Do you confess every single sin? That would be impossible in itself. The Greek word for sin used in this verse is a noun anyway, not a verb. So it is more accurate to say it refers to a person’s inability to hit the mark then to each time they shot and missed. So how can you confess sin that is already forgiven? You don’t. You confess your inability to attaint the righteousness needed to relate to God and that you trust in Jesus’ mediating sacrifice to give you exactly that. “Father God, in all my attempts to live righteously I have failed. I am unable to hit the mark. By your mercy you have provided forgiveness. By your grace you have offered righteousness. I accept them both through placing my faith in Your Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, Please save me and be my Lord.”
Does that help?
hi cornel,
you now that your name is very polular in romania?
My qus. is:
it sims it is universalism what I reed. I m confus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalism
this link spoke abaut universalism
ques. : do you belev in existence of hell or eternal separation from God? including man also. not only satan
regards
Daniel
Dear Cornel, the following verse helps make your point about universal salvation crapola.
You can feel Pauls’ anguish in his plea to the lost.
2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
In Christ
Leo
First of All I am All New to These Topics even Tough i have been a Christian for many years and i do Embrace The Message of The Finished Work , i am totally Allergic to The Legalistic message , i just recently heard the term Chrsitian Universalism , i hear it everywhere now
so when i read your Article it sounds tome like i beleive that Jesus paid for All Humanity’s Sins However i do Believe that there is Heaven and Hell as My Bible tells me , and those who do not beleive on the Lord Jesus Christ as Their Saviour to recieve thier Remission of sin they are Already Condemed as it says in john 3 and they will not make it to Heaven
i sense that you are saying the same thing , However i do hear this unclear sound that the way you Guys are discribing or should i say not mentioning and keeping it in the secret is that i feel that you are saying that there is no Hell ! Am I right on this One ? if that’s the case then what happends to those who do not get Saved and die ? where do they spend Eterninty ? and how about all the mention about hell , haitis , sheol ?
Please Explain it to Me with a total Clarity i would Greatly appriciate it ! say it Exactly as You beleive without Changing words pls. i have been trying to get Answers on this subject and no one seems to be Clear ! Thank You in Advance
Blessings
Natasha
Great article Cornel.
Daniel, this question always comes up in response to those who teach we are forgiven all their sins – past, present and future. The following is a quote from my book ‘What’s Eating You?’
“First, it is important to note that there is only one single verse in the New Testament epistles instructing us to confess our sins to God, i.e. 1 Jn.1:9. The context of this verse seems to refer, not to the confession of individual sins as such, but, to the fact of sin in our lives in general. Towards the end of the first century the first stages of a heresy emerged called Gnosticism. Among other things the Gnostics took the ‘denial’ approach to the problem of sin and guilt. They argued that sin belonged to the material world and was a part of the flesh, but this was not the real world; the real world was that of the spirit.
Those who taught these things were beginning to infiltrate the Church, and their teaching threatened the purity of the gospel, which begins with the knowledge that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
In response to this John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His truth is not in us” (1 Jn.1:8-10). This is the gospel. If we confess we have sinned and come into the light, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (see verse 7).
Many Christians would be horrified if they thought I was teaching that we should not confess our sins to God. This is not what I am saying. But I would ask you this question, “Do you believe that you will not be forgiven unless you confess your sins?” If you answered “yes” to this question then you are implying the following:
Your sins were not completely and totally forgiven through the finished work of Christ on the cross. They are dependent upon your confession also. So, your work of confession must be added to the work of Christ in order to complete salvation.
You must confess every individual sin without exception, in order to be forgiven because one sin will keep you out of God’s eternal presence. Who can honestly say that they have confessed every single sin they have ever committed since they were born again?
If you commit a sin and die before you confess it then you will die in your sins and go to hell. (Some Christians actually teach this, and this is not surprising because it is the logical conclusion if we believe that we are not forgiven until we have confessed every sin.)
Many teach that at the end of the day before we go to sleep we should confess all our sins to God in order to “keep the slate clean” or “keep short accounts with God.” Again, who can be sure that this ritual will cover every one of our wrongdoings each day? Surely, this idea of sin-confess-forgiveness creates a sin-consciousness as much as the sacrificial system of Judaism or the confessional/penance system of the Roman Catholic Church. The result is the same – a never-ending calling to mind of sin.
WHAT ARE YOU CALLING TO MIND WHEN YOU CONFESS?
Immediately after this passage John addresses God’s people with these words, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn.2:1&2).
When Jesus died on the cross He died for all the sins of all who would believe in Him, throughout all ages – one sacrifice, offered once for all. When I put my trust in Him as my Saviour all my sins were forgiven – past, present and future. The sin-confess-forgiveness theory teaches God’s people that you are only as good as your last confession.
Each time I am conscious of having sinned, I confess and renounce my failure before God. But I don’t ask for forgiveness, because I believe I already am totally forgiven. The word ‘confess’ is from the Greek word homologia. It is made up of two separate words: homo = same; logia = word. To confess is to say the same thing as God says. So, when I sin I agree with what God says about my situation. Firstly, I agree with God that my behaviour is sinful; and secondly, I agree that Jesus forgave me for this sin when He died on the cross. So my confession might be something like this, “Father, I am sorry that I sinned against you when I said, did, or thought that thing. My behaviour has not been glorifying to you. But I thank you also that this sin, too, has been forgiven through the death of Jesus.” By praying this way, my confession does not call to mind my sin, but my righteousness in Christ.
Satan is the accuser of the brethren. His aim is to produce feelings of guilt and unworthiness so that we despair and withdraw from God. He cannot affect our salvation but he can seriously impact our quality of life on earth. Jesus died, not only that we might have forgiveness but also that we would enjoy a righteousness-consciousness. Our problem now is not sin, but unbelief. Whose voice will you believe – that of your conscience, the accusations of the enemy, or the voice of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit?”
@ Daniel, Leo & Natasha:
I am not a universalist. You misunderstood what I was trying to convey. I absolutely believe in a heaven and hell and that only those who choose to put their faith in Jesus will receive the gift of righteousness that gives them access to the Father, Heaven and everlasting life. Maybe I didn’t make it clear but if you die at 0, with forgiveness totally provided for, you do not enter heaven because the sin of unbelief remains and according to James 2:10 stumbling in one point makes you guilty of all. So the fact that forgiveness has been provided for you doesn’t help you much if you die in unbelief. Jesus is the only way to Father. Sorry if I was unclear on the matter. Again, I am not proposing universal salvation.
If all your sins are forgiven, then why would people be condemned for the sin of unbelief? I thought you said all sins were forgiven?
Also, in Christ providing forgiveness for sins did he not, at the same time, turn that wrath into favor (propitation), and thus have those who are forgiven righteous in God? How can you separate forgiveness from Christ from the righteousness he provides?
Alex, maybe the following illustration will help answer your first question.
In 1829 a man by the name of George Wilson held up the United States Mail service, killing a man in the process. Wilson was caught and brought to trial. There was enough evidence to convict him of the crime and he was sentenced to death by hanging. Some of his friends, however, intervened before the President, Andrew Jackson, and Wilson was pardoned. To the absolute amazement of all George Wilson refused to accept the pardon!
The sheriff was in a dilemma. What should he do? Could he execute a pardoned man? Yet, the convicted criminal did not receive the pardon. The sheriff appealed to President Jackson but even he did not know what to do. The case was handed over to the United States Supreme Court to decide. The Chief Justice ruled that a pardon is a legal piece of paper that was only validated by its acceptance. If it was not accepted then it was no longer a pardon. By its very nature a pardon comes into force the moment it is received. George Wilson was executed by hanging while his pardon lay on the desk of the sheriff.
I’m not sure why George Wilson made a decision to reject his pardon. Maybe it was his pride. Whatever the reason, many would call him a fool. He could have walked away a free man, but his stubbornness caused him to forfeit his life.
Similarly, Jesus is the propitation for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn.2:2). But the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that this pardon must be accepted by faith.
Hey Cornel!
Great article! Everytime I preach about the total forgiveness of sins that Jesus has given to all men unconditionally, I get accused of being a Universalist! Your article does a good job at communicating the “Grace” side (Gods initiating, providing for salvation) and the “faith” side or our response to His grace.
I know of a Pastor in a different city who got ahold of this revelation and put billboards around his city with the words “You are forgiven”. He said that out of all the promo, ads, billboards he ever put up, he got more “negative” feedback from the “religious world” than any other ad. The Gospel is not a potential Gospel, it is a finished reality. Our belief doesnt make God forgive us or heal us.He has already done all the work on His end. Our unbelief doesnt make it untrue either. Our faith in His grace def causes the “objective” reality to be “subjectively” experienced on our end though. All the people that go to hell go their forgiven, they just choose not to recieve the payment for their sins. Good word!
Their is no shame in beiliveing in the salvation of all
You can sincerely believe that if you want without shame, but you will still be believing something that is clearly not supported by scripture. Lack of shame does not equate to truth.