Christianity shows God’s great love for us in many ways. One of the most amazing is, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV) How does someone claim that eternal life?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NKJV) He wrote to the church in Ephesus, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8a NKJV)    

God’s love is so great that He sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins so we can have the gift of eternal life. We go before God in prayer, admitting we are sinners, we repent from our sins and accepts Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Praying for forgiveness for our sins isn’t a one-time thing. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are redeemed and forgiven, you are not made perfect. Our goal as Christians is to grow in our faith daily so we become more Christlike. We will struggle with sin until we are in heaven with Jesus.

So what do we do about sin? We seek God’s forgiveness daily. The Lord’s prayer says “‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’” (Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV)

Many Christians know the Lord’s prayer, but do we pay attention to the following two verses? They say, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV) We are called to seek forgiveness when we fall short of God’s glory, which if we are honest with ourselves is daily. We are also called to forgive others.

I love how the Apostle John puts our struggle with sin. He wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 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 word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10 NKJV) The Apostle John makes it clear that we need to confess our sin, when we do we receive forgiveness.

Pastor Timothy Hammond

Oak Street Baptist Church

Christianity shows God’s great love for us in many ways. One of the most amazing is, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV) How does someone claim that eternal life?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NKJV) He wrote to the church in Ephesus, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8a NKJV)    

God’s love is so great that He sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins so we can have the gift of eternal life. We go before God in prayer, admitting we are sinners, we repent from our sins and accepts Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Praying for forgiveness for our sins isn’t a one-time thing. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are redeemed and forgiven, you are not made perfect. Our goal as Christians is to grow in our faith daily so we become more Christlike. We will struggle with sin until we are in heaven with Jesus.

So what do we do about sin? We seek God’s forgiveness daily. The Lord’s prayer says “‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’” (Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV)

Many Christians know the Lord’s prayer, but do we pay attention to the following two verses? They say, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV) We are called to seek forgiveness when we fall short of God’s glory, which if we are honest with ourselves is daily. We are also called to forgive others.

I love how the Apostle John puts our struggle with sin. He wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 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 word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10 NKJV) The Apostle John makes it clear that we need to confess our sin, when we do we receive forgiveness.

Pastor Timothy Hammond

Oak Street Baptist Church