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FORGIVENESS AFTER BAPTISM The
Bible teaches us that a person’s sins are forgiven when he is baptized (Acts
2:38). But, inevitably, a person will
commit sins after his baptism—as Solomon said, “Indeed, there is not a
righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins”
(Ecclesiastes 7:20 NASB). So, what does
a person need to do in order to be forgiven of sins committed after baptism? RepentIn
Acts 8, we read about a man named Simon being baptized (Acts 8:13). But, sometime thereafter, Simon’s heart was
“not right before God” (Acts 8:21 NASB).
So, what did Simon need to do to be forgiven of this sin? Well, first, he needed to repent. The apostle Peter told him, “Repent,
therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible,
the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts 8:22 ESV). Later in Acts, Paul preached that all people
ought to repent because there’s a great day coming. He said that God “commands all people
everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the
world in righteousness” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV).
Likewise, Jesus said, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”
(Luke 13:3 ESV). PrayFurthermore,
we need to pray. Notice again what Peter
told Simon: “Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the
Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts
8:22 ESV). Jesus taught us to pray for
forgiveness. When the apostles asked
Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, "When you pray, say: ‘…forgive us
our sins…’” (Luke 11:1-4 ESV). Likewise,
in His Sermon on the Mount, He preached, “Pray then like this: ‘…forgive us our
debts…’” (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV). David is
a good example of someone who prayed for forgiveness. In one psalm, he prayed, “Remember not the
sins of my youth” (Psalm 25:7 KJV). And
in another psalm, he said to God, “None of us know our faults. Forgive me when I sin without knowing it”
(Psalm 19:12 CEV). Confess to GodJohn
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 we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10
NASB). David is a good example of one
who confessed sin. In one psalm, he
prayed, “I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin” (Psalm 38:18 ESV). And in another psalm, he said to God, “I
acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will
confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin”
(Psalm 32:5 ESV). Confess to man (in some cases) James
5:16 commands us, “confess your sins to one another.” The Greek word translated “confess” in James
5:16 means, “acknowledge” or “agree fully” (Strong’s Greek
Dictionary). These words “agree fully”
are especially helpful. They suggest
that someone has already confronted you about your sin. Jesus taught us to so confront one another, and He taught us
what should be confessed in return. He
said: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if
he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times,
saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4 ESV). So, I need to confess, “I repent” to any
brother who has rebuked me. Jesus also said, "If your brother sins against you, go
and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you
have gained your brother. But if he does
not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be
established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you
as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17 ESV). |