[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World whiteboard.]

How to receive God’s forgiveness

Are you dealing with guilt, shame, or anxiety because of mistakes in your life? You can take these four steps to find God’s forgiveness.

When we know we’re doing something wrong, or not living a life pleasing to God, it can lead to overwhelming guilt, anxiety, and shame. But there is a way out.

In this video we’ll discuss four steps the Bible gives of how to be forgiven.

To understand forgiveness, we have to understand sin.

Before we get to step one, let’s examine a couple biblical definitions of sin. 1 John 3:4 says,

Sin is the transgression of the law (KJV).

That is, sin is the breaking of God’s laws, and specifically the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are spiritual laws, some of which include:

• Do not lie.
• Do not steal
• Do not murder.
• Do not commit adultery.
• Do not worship other gods.

These laws are for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13), and when we break them, there are consequences.

Another aspect of sin is expressed in James 4:17,

To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Sin leads to unhappiness, anxiety, regret, guilt, pain, and suffering, both for ourselves and others. And ultimately, as Romans 6:23 says,

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, let’s examine four steps the Bible gives to be forgiven.

Step 1: recognize you are a sinner.

No matter who we are, we sin. Romans 3:23 says,

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And 1 John 1:8 explains,

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

As a part of this recognition, we should understand exactly which sins we struggle with.

To do this, we can use the Ten Commandments like a mirror to see where we fall short (James 1:22-25).

Do we lie? Dishonor our parents? Commit adultery? Or use idols in our worship of God?

So step one is recognize you are a sinner.

Step 2: confess your sins to God and ask Him for forgiveness.

Acknowledging our sin to ourselves is one thing, but this step involves admitting and expressing to God exactly what sins we’ve committed, then asking Him to forgive us. King David said:

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).

And we’re told explicitly in 1 John 1:9,

If we confess our sins [that is, confess our sins to God], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So step two is confess your sins to God and ask Him for forgiveness.

Step 3: accept the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse your sins.

In addition to confessing and asking God for forgiveness, this step involves faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who died in our place to pay the required death penalty of sin.

This allows us to be, as it says in Romans 3,

…justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [or payment] by His blood…

And it is by His blood and His mercy that He has “passed over the sins that were previously committed” (Romans 3:25).

So when we sin, then confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, the sins we have committed to that point will be forgiven. In 1 John 1:7 we see,

The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

So, it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we can be cleansed of our sins and made righteous. Even if we began living a perfect life without any more sin, we still would be unclean without the blood of Christ.

But step three of accepting the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not enough.

God requires us to change—which brings us to step four.

Step 4: repent of sin and begin obeying God’s law.

Repentance means a change of direction in our mind and our behavior. Acts 3:19 says,

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…

A person who commits a crime and is pardoned by a judge does not have permission to continue breaking the law.

It’s the same regarding forgiveness from God. When we’re forgiven of sin, the sin is not held against us anymore, but it doesn’t give us permission to continue in that sin. Romans 6:2 says,

How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

For example, if a man commits adultery, then recognizes his sin, confesses his sin to God, and sincerely asks for forgiveness, he does not have permission to continue breaking God’s law.

Forgiveness requires repentance—a change of life of intended obedience to God’s laws. Romans 6:16 says,

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading righteousness?

We cannot be forgiven of sin without faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but James shows it must be mixed with obedience.

Faith without works is dead... a man is justified by works, and not by faith only… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:20-26).

So step four is repent and begin obeying God’s law.

These four steps lead to baptism.

If someone is ready to take these four steps, sincerely and wholeheartedly, then he or she needs to be “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).

In baptism, our past sins are washed away completely. Baptism represents the beginning of a completely new life for us—one in which we have access to God’s forgiveness for the rest of our lives, as we continue to:

1. Recognize our sin.
2. Ask for forgiveness.
3. Accept the blood of Jesus Christ to cover our sins.
4. And repent of those sins.

And it’s at baptism that we receive God’s Spirit through the laying on of hands and Christ begins the process of living His life within us through the Holy Spirit, helping us to overcome our sins as we move forward.

That new life and the full meaning of what happens at baptism is a beautiful subject that we look forward to covering in a future video.

This is the process we must take to overcome guilt and sin.

These steps are not easy, but it is through this process that we can be free from guilt and shame and be liberated from the heavy weight of sin that holds us down (Hebrews 12:1).

We can be so thankful to God for His mercy and love toward us.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:11-12).

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