You Are Forgiven

Q: I had a discussion with my friend about we had different views so I want you to help us with your own view..

``***Does the verse the soul that sinneth shall die apply to born again Christians***``? My friend believes that as a born again Christian when you sin God turns his face away from you until you BEG him for forgiveness! He calls himself a sinner because of the verse that says ``we`ve all sinned and come short of His glory``

And another one we had was about a verse that says ``spare not a witch to die``..he believes in praying the **die die kind of pray** like praying that those wishing him bad/against to die...and I said to him that we`ve been set far above all principalities and powers and they all under our feet. Please clear out those points for us...thanks (Note: this question has been edited for as much clarity as possible)

A: Thank you for your questions. No, the verse you mention does not apply to Christians. It is a general statement about the sinful condition of mankind. Let me ask you a question regarding our sins and God's forgiveness. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 we read that "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." The question for you is "If God is not counting our sins against us, what sin can we commit that would cause God to turn His face from us and require us to beg His forgiveness?" The answer is "God is not holding any sin against us." Therefore, your friend is wrong. When Jesus died He took away the sins of the world. Jesus is the "the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (1 John 2:2 NASB)." Everybody's sins are forgiven; past, present and future. One thing that must be understood is that our sins deserve death, not our begging God to forgive us. Furthermore, we do not have a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. All we can do when we sin is thank God that He, in Christ, paid for our sins. Because of that truth God not only does not turn His face from us, but we have access to Him when we sin to learn why we were not trusting Him. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)."

All of us sin. That is just a fact of living in these sinful bodies. But, our sins do not separate us from God or require us to ask Him to forgive us. The Bible says that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22)." Begging God to forgive you of your sins does not equate to the shedding of blood that God requires. And as was mentioned previously, we do not have blood to shed that would satisfy God. In fact, the only blood God accepted was His own! Yes, it is a fact that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3;23)." However, this is simply telling us that, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, we are all separated from God and cannot do anything in our own strength to save ourselves. However, if you are a born again Christian, you are righteous in God's eyes because of your faith in Jesus Christ. "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17)." You are now glorifying God because you have received His righteousness in Christ.

I am not sure what you mean by praying the "die die" kind of prayer. However, if it means that you pray for the death of your enemies then that is not a prayer motivated by the love of Jesus Christ. Romans 12:20 says, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." It is a natural reaction to want to seek justice on those who wrong us and mercy when we are the ones at fault. However, what is forgiveness if it is not setting those who have wronged us free from the debt they owe us? That is the centerpiece of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We owed God a debt of sin that we could not pay. Therefore, in God's love for us He set us free from what we owed Him by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. When you love your enemies (feed them when they are hungry and quench their thirst when they are thirsty) you are robbing them of the power they seek to wield over you. Perhaps, your reaction alone will win you a convert to Christ because they will see your reaction as unnatural; dare I say supernatural.

When a Christian is not forgiving and desires harm to come to their enemies it is usually a byproduct of how they believe God is treating them. If you believe your sins are still separating you from God then you will treat others the same way when they sin against you. You will demand they restore to you what they took from you. However, what if God demanded of you what you owed Him? How would you react then? The only thing that would happen is that you would be cast into hell for eternity. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what God did for us in order to restore to us what we lost when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. When Adam sinned we lost the very life of God. However, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has offered us His life as a free gift to all who will receive it. And because of the death of Jesus Christ, there is no sin that will ever cause that life to leave again. That is why it is an eternal life. A life that will carry us through this life and on into eternity even after we physically die. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5:8-10)!" We are forgiven by the death of Jesus Christ. We are saved by His resurrected life. Now, extend to others what you have received from your God. Be blessed.