Forgiveness

You Have Been Perfected Once And For All

   What do I need to be forgiven from?


        Can Christ forgives me of all my sins: past, present, and future?


                       Do I have to be worthy to be forgiven?

Forgiveness is one of the most important aspects to the Christian faith, and is likewise to LDS. Forgiveness makes it possible for man to be accepted by God, and without forgiveness man would have no choice but to spend eternity apart from God in outer darkness (Matthew 25:31-46). You may be asking, "What do I need to be forgiven from? I'm not a bad person." Well, the Bible makes it clear that all are sinners (Romans 3:23). All have broken God's law to one degree or another. 1 John 1:8-10 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... If we say that we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and His word is not in us." Sin is an act of the will; you choose to do it, and thus it is an act of rebellion against God.

If you desire to have eternal life with the Father, it is important that you be forgiven of all your sins because no unclean person can dwell with God in heaven. You may be asking, "How Can I be forgiven?" This is the question that will be addressed here.

Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve gave an illustration to show how Christ's atonement makes it possible to be saved from sin if we do our part. It's about a young man who ran up a huge debt and couldn't pay the creditor back. Click here to read the short illustration.

At the surface, this story makes it relieving to know that Jesus stepped in as a mediator and helped us pay our debt of sin. There is a catch to this story though. According to this story your sin was only refinanced, not cancelled. Since your sin was only refinanced, you still have the same amount of debt to pay. It's only spread out over time with easier terms, and the difference now is that you pay Jesus. Former Apostle, Bruce McConkie reiterates this by explaining that forgiveness is a reward for our adherence to the law.

Complete forgiveness is reserved for those only who turn their whole hearts to the Lord and begin to keep all of his commandments—not just those commandments disobeyed in the past, but those in all fields. “He that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven” (D&C 1:32)… At what times and under what circumstances do men gain forgiveness of their sins? Manifestly, they attain this reward at any time when they are in complete harmony with the divine will, that is at any time when they have complied with the Lord’s law where under they are enabled to become pure and spotless before him (Mormon Doctrine, Second Edition, 295, emphasis added).

Former LDS President, Spencer W. Kimball, explains the role of repentance in forgiveness: “The forsaking of sin must be a permanent one. True repentance does not permit making the same mistake again” (Repentance Brings Forgiveness tract, 1984). The D&C also states that “By this we know if a man repenteth of his sins—for behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43). Any breach in repentance will fail to bring forth forgiveness. The D&C states: “And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God” (D&C 82:7). Spencer Kimball also adds:

This progress towards eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total forgiveness of sins and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord gives us (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 208-209).

You see, the Mormon Church has led you to believe that you can only be certain that you've received forgiveness based on how much you've adhered to the law. The truth is that forgiveness is not rewarded to you because you adhere to the law, nor is it earned by abstaining from sin, it simply comes by God's grace towards those who realize they are sinners in need of a savior, and believe in Jesus Christ to forgive them of everything they've ever done, or will do (Acts 10:43 , Colossians 2:13-15).

Here is a diagram to demonstrate being completely forgiven

The first circle with the large "S" resembles "self," the person who relies on his/her efforts to pay their refinanced debt to Christ, and be counted worthy for forgiveness. In this circle, Christ is only responsible for forgiving the debt that has been paid for by the person's adherence to the law. Because we are sinful, it is impossible to us to ever fully obey God's commandments and pay off our debt to Christ. We may promise to stop sinning, but we will never succeed. Thus, the person will receive 0% forgiveness because he/she has failed to pay off their debt to Christ through obedience to the law. The other circle represents the person who doesn't try to pay off their debt through obedience to the law, but trusts fully in Christ, realizes they are utterly helpless, and asks Christ to pay off all of their debt. It would be a sin to do otherwise. (Romans 10:3-4)

The Bible says that Jesus Christ paid our debt in full. Colossians 2:13 says

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 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.

The Greek word translated "handwriting" referred to a certificate of debt. God's forgiveness is like that of a person wiping the ink off a parchment that documented our debt. Through Christ's death on the cross, God totally erased our certificate of indebtedness and made our forgiveness complete. Believer's sins were all put to Christ's account, nailed to His cross as he paid the penalty in their place. Because Jesus is God, only He can pay the infinite debt that sinners have against God. He will not require from you that which only He could do. You can be totally forgiven by praying a pray like this:

Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I know that you have died for me, and only you can pay my debt of sins. Please forgive me for all of my sins, and forgive me for trying to achieve that which only you could. I am not worthy to be forgiven, but I know that you love me, and the depth of my sins are not too much for you to bear. Come live in me, and give me eternal life. Thank you for forgiving me, and giving me eternal life with you. Amen.

If you have prayed for God to forgive you, He will. God doesn't break his promises!

1 John 1:9 also says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."