Dr Charles Stanley - He Forgives Our Sin - Part 1

0:00This summer, don't squeeze in, spread out, find homes big enough for your whole guest list on Verbo. That's Vacation Rental's Done Right. Book your stay now. Book a Loved by Guest Property with Verbo and you get a top rated vacation rental that's love for all the right reasons, like being in a great location or having great amenities. Oh, I love my Verbo for the view. Good reason. Ooh, I'm the sauna. Sweet. Another good reason. And that it's one of those goods to honest, with the hot rock thing? Oh, love a good hot rock thing. Fancy. That's also a reason. Don't worry about surprises. Book a Verbo you'll love with the Loved by Guest Filter. If you know, you Verbo. Every single one of us is sinned against God. It is a universal fact. We've fallen short of what is required of us, what is necessary to be accepted in his sight. He says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus

1:01Christ our Lord. Every single person needs to be forgiven of sin because what sin is done in our life and that is it has separated us from God. We had a sin problem before we were saved. We have a sin problem now until we learn how to deal with it. Scripture clearly tells us that in order to be saved, we must believe and that believing requires more than just knowing facts about Christ. We're glad you've joined us for in touch the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Today's message explains what it really means to believe in Jesus. Our series on the ways of God continues. Would you like to get to know God better? Well, if you are a believer more than likely, you'd say yes, but I'm not quite sure I know how to do that. I read the Bible, I pray I go to church, I give, but I don't know that I'm really in truly learning to know Him better. Well, one thing is true.

2:04If you will listen to this whole series of messages that we're doing now, you will learn to know God better because we're talking about the ways of God. And you see, until you begin to understand the ways of God, how does he think? What motivates him? What does he do what he does? What does he respond the way he responds? Why does he act the way he acts? You see, once you begin to understand the way God thinks a little bit and the way he operates, and oftentimes he does not operate the same way we do, but when you begin to learn the way he thinks and what motivates him, all of a sudden you begin to understand better. You begin to know Him better. And that's what we're up to in this whole series entitled the ways of God. And what I want to talk about in this message is this. One of the ways of God is this. He forgives our sin. Now you'd say, well, everybody knows how to be forgiven of sin. No, they don't. So I want you to turn it to Ephesians chapter 1.

3:06And I want us to read beginning in verse 3 and let's read through verse 8. And this is an awesome passage that we can be on a long time. But I just want to introduce this whole sermon today. Listen to what he says beginning in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as He chose us in Him that is in Jesus. Before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, He predestined us to adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. In other words, it was all His idea. To the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved. Now here's the verse. Watch this. In Him that is in Christ. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

4:08I want to stop right there. Go back to verse 7. In Him we have redemption. Resolution means release or freedom as a result of payment. You redeem someone by paying whatever the price is and then they are freed or redeemed. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. Now let's think about this whole issue of forgiveness that relates to our salvation because you see forgiveness that relates to our salvation works differently than forgiveness that relates to our daily sins because the truth is even after we are saved we are going to sin. Things we think, motivations that are not right, arguments with people, whatever it might be. So in terms of forgiveness for our salvation, let's first of all think in terms of this. What does the word salvation mean? What's that all about?

5:09Salvation is simply this. It is the work of God whereby He delivers us from the penalty of sin which is death. And through Jesus Christ and His death at the cross He endows us with the gift of eternal life. So it's the work of God whereby He delivers us from the penalty of sin and endows us with the gift of eternal life. Every single one of us has sinned against God. It is a universal fact and this is why the Bible says for all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've fallen short of what is required of us, what is necessary to be accepted in His sight. He says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Every single person needs to be forgiven of sin because what sin is done in their life and that is it has separated us from God. And many people are separated from God who don't even realize they are. They say, I'm not so sinful and I'm not as bad as other people and so what happens is this. We compare themselves with some other person, especially a believer, rather than comparing

6:13themselves with Jesus Christ who is the Holy Son of God. So all of us have a sin problem. We have a sin problem before we were saved. We have a sin problem now until we learn how to deal with it. And so when you look at the Scriptures and He says here that we have been redeemed by God, how, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that is salvation comes as a result of the work of God in a person's life. That work of God in a person's life transpires when that person is able to understand that Jesus Christ came into this world as sinless virgin born son of God, lay down his life voluntarily on the cross, shed his blood which was the way God made it possible for all of us to be saved. And when the person is willing to respond to that, something happens in their life. And so you say, well, what kind of response does that require? Well it requires a very definite response and a person says, well, you know, the truth

7:13is I don't really think I'm all that bad. Well, I'm going to show you in a few moments just that bad you are. So don't walk off, don't run away, don't shut it down, don't turn it off. At least if you want the truth because I want to show you what is the word of God. What does it say about us? Now when it comes to salvation, a person says, well, I'm going to get saved one of these days when I get good and ready. And I want to say to you, no, you're not. Well, how can you tell me that I'm not going to be saved when I get good and ready? Because the Bible says you're not. No where does the Bible say that you can be saved anytime you get ready? That is your forgiveness from God for your salvation that work in your life whereby God does what? It leaves you of the pilled of your sin and dows you with this awesome gift of eternal life. That cannot happen and will not happen just when you get ready. You say, well, doesn't the Bible say who's ever will make come? Yes. Doesn't the Bible say that Jesus said, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life?

8:14Didn't He say that? Yes. You mean to tell me that I can't be saved just anytime I get ready? No, you cannot. Well, I never saw that in the Bible. Well, let's see if we can find out where that is. I want you to turn if you will to John, the gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 44, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. What does that mean, simple this? That until the Holy Spirit of God, conviction of your sin, brings you to the realization that you need God. May you under conviction and guilt over your relationship to God until the work of the Holy Spirit transpires in your life, you will not be saved. And here's the reason why, because you won't want to. Man in his naturalness, that's what the Bible calls it. Man doesn't just naturally want to get right with God. Something has to happen. And so the Spirit of God begins to work in a person's heart and we say, wooze that person.

9:19It helps them to understand that things are not right. But there is a separation between them and Almighty God. And oftentimes that comes as a result of difficulty, hardship, pain and suffering. And when somebody comes to me and says, here's what's happening to my son and he won't listen to me and I'm praying for him and I'm afraid and on and on and on and go, what do you suggest I do? They don't usually like this, but this is the answer. If your son's living in your bed, you know, your daughter, your husband, your wife, here's what you pray. You pray God sent them in a pain, suffering, heartache. I mean, God just poured on so heavy they can't stand it. You say, I love my son. I'm not going to do that. What does the Bible say? You love him, you put the rod to him. So he's too big to put the rod to him. So what do you do? You pray for God to do it. God knows how to put enough pain, suffering, hardship and trial and difficulty in a person's life. They begin to cry out, oh God, have mercy upon me. You say, well, is that the right way to do it? Let me ask you a question. Has you really be kind and sweet and let them down and go to hell?

10:19Has yet to be honest, what's reality? Reality is sin as a destroyer. It destroys the soul. It's the soul that destroys the light that bodied the spirit. We tell men people being saved. People getting right with God. So when you look at the Scripture and you realize that every single one of us needs a relationship with God because he says the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life. If I'm going to have a right relationship with God, I have to go about it in God's way. And he says it's when he draws me when I get under conviction about my relationship to him. They're people who get the situation they're scared to death, never been scared to death in their life and all hell's breaking loose in their life and they don't know what to do. And they make God this promise. God, I promise you, oh God, I promise you, get me out of this and I preach the gospel. I'll do anything because they're afraid because they're loved one. God, if you will just heal him, here's what I'll do. I promise. If you will just heal her, God, here's what I'll do. All of that is emotion. When it comes to salvation, salvation is more than emotion. Salvation, listen to forgiveness of your sin.

11:22In order for your deputality of your sin to be forgiven forever. And if you're to be a child of God, it's not simply an emotion. It is an act of your will based on truth. It is an act of your will based on truth. Therefore a person to be saved, there's certain things you have to understand. And one thing is this. That is you have to have at least some understanding of who Jesus is. And people say, oh, I believe in Jesus, I've always believed in Him. I talk to Him all the time. The truth is, have you ever confessed your sin to Him, acknowledged your sin for this, that you alienated and separated from Him? Have you ever acknowledged the fact that you're going to hell if you don't receive Jesus Christ as you save you? Have you ever acknowledged the fact that you need Him desperately in your life, not the fact that you're afraid and going through difficult time and you just want Him to bail you out? God's not a bailer. He's a redeemer. He laid down His life in order to change your life and to grant to you the awesome gift that no one under any condition anywhere in the world could ever do for you and that

12:23is to save your soul, to forgive your sin and make it possible for you to become a child of God. Well, not only must you recognize who Jesus is, but secondly, there is a requirement. And oftentimes we hear people talk about, well, I believe in Jesus and my mother did, my grandfather did, and all these people believed in Jesus, but there's more than just believing in Him. Some of us say, wait a minute. Now, doesn't the Bible say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved? Yes. Does not Paul say, if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus as Lord, save you. If you confess to Him as Lord of your life, you'll be saved. Yes. Doesn't Jesus say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or those who believe in Him, of save, forgiven of their sin, no wrath and not yes, all kinds of verses about that? But the question is, what does the word believe mean? The word believe when used in the New Testament is a word of action. It is not just a passay word.

13:24For example, the word I serve, that's action. I love is action. I believe is action. So when a person says that they truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ from a scriptural point of view, in this only view, it works, some action takes place because you see you cannot separate in the Bible, faith and repentance. And usually not a lot of it, but a bit of a bit of a spoken of. So listen if you will in this 13th chapter of Luke. Turn there for a moment if you will. 13th chapter of Luke. And I want you to look at a couple of verses here. And I won't give you all the context, I simply to say that Jesus repeated this twice in the gospels. He said in verse 3 of the 13th chapter, I tell you know, but unless you repent, you will all white, wise, perish. The fifth verse, I tell you know, but unless you repent, you will all white, like wise perish. If you go to the 24th chapter of Luke, and this is when Jesus is speaking to disciples before he leaves them, here's what he says to them.

14:26He said, now I'm sending you out. And I want to tell you what the message is. The message is all about this. He says, look if you will in verse 45, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. He said the message is a message of repentance. They watched this. Watch this carefully. If I really and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that caught in the author's scripture, teachers, if I believe in him, here's what that means. I believe he's who he says he is. I believe he'll do what he says he'll do. I believe he has the power to forgive me of my sins. I believe he desires that I walk a godly life, and therefore he will equip me to do that. Therefore if I truly believe him, there's going to be a change in my life. And that change is what repentance is all about. Because I believe in him, I will turn from the way that I've been living.

15:30I'm going to live a different life. If I really and truly believe in him, there's going to be a change. If, listen, I will only change because I believe in him. The only reason because you cannot separate repentance and faith. Two sides are the same coin. So when he says repentance must be proclaimed, he naturally was including faith. And when the Bible speaks and Paul speaks so many times about placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke of repentance. And so our responsibility is to place our trust in him, to repent of our sins. Somebody says, well does that mean that I got to straighten up before I get saved? No. In other words, you don't straighten up before you're forgiven of your sin and the gift of salvation be besoited upon you. Because first of all, you can't. If you could, you're just straighten up, that would be it. He says, not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy, he saves us for gifts of our sin.

16:30For by grace, God's awesome love and mercy told us, are you saved through faith? That's not of yourself. It's the gift of God. Not of works. No getting ready. So we're talking about faith and repentance. If I am going to be forgiven of my sin and only have two choices, watch this. If I'm not forgiven of my sin through the death of Jesus Christ, I'll have to stand before him and give an account for all my sin in the judgment of God. And somebody says, well now, okay, I go with that, but here's what I'm going to tell Jesus my idea, that you're not going to tell him anything. You listen, you're talking to a holy God, if you had that privilege. You're going to tell holy God whose very presence you cannot stand in. You're talking to holy God and you're telling him what you're going to tell him, you're not going to tell him anything. When you're not stand before him, I guarantee you there's going to be pure silence on our part. Standing in the presence of holy God, you see, we have such an irreverence in our day,

17:33we don't even know what that means. To be absolutely totally silent because you simply stand in someone's presence because the holiness of their life is beyond your comprehension. You're not going to tell him anything. Our forgiveness of sin is based on one thing only. His death at Calvary and my willingness to accept that as the only sufficient adequate payment for my sin and in that once and for all act, when I ask him to forgive me of my sin and what am I asking him to do? I'm asking him to forgive me for what sin primarily, not drinking, smoking, running around and being adulterer, but asking him to forgive me for the sin of unbelief, which is the bottom line of all sin until I trust the Lord Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. Because the truth is, if I'm not a Christian, what I've said is I don't believe all that. So genuine true belief is such that it makes a difference in my life in Paul, put it this

18:39way in 2nd and 3rd and chapter 5. He says, therefore if any person is in Christ for given the their sins saved, have they give to be turned alive, there are new creature that is something new. And he says, all things have passed away, behold, things have become new now. Why do you think Jesus and his conversation with Nicodemus turned it this way? Jesus except the man be born again. He will not see the kingdom of God. Well born one time, born again is something spiritual and does not birth indicate something new and the truth is the new birth means a new beginning, a new start, brand new. When you are forgiven of your sin, you are forgiven of your sin and you are saved. At that moment, listen, watch this carefully, that is a one time act. You are only pardoned one time. You commit a crime, you go to court and the judge says you are pardoned for this crime. It can't bring you back for the same thing. And so what happens is watch this carefully.

19:42When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you are forgiven of your sin, that forgiveness, watch this carefully. That forgiveness is the act of forgiveness on the part of God whereby your sins, all of them, every single one of them, past, present and future are a tone for and one act in his death at Calvary. Period. So what happens? It's in that act in response to your belief and your repentance toward him, your faith in him that he atones for all you sin. Now watch this. Watch this, you have committed and he's a tone for the sins you are going to commit. When you're genuinely saved, there's a change of attitude and a change of actions in your life. If you've trusted in Jesus, what changes are you seeing in your attitudes and actions as a result of being born again? Take some time to think about that and join us tomorrow when we'll wrap up Dr. Stanley's

20:47message on God's forgiveness. To review what you just heard, go to ntouch.org and click on today on radio. And that's where you'll find more information about who Jesus is and how you can start or deepen a relationship with him. If you open the store page, you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message he forgives our sin or order the entire teaching set, the ways of God. Again, you'll find these resources at ntouch.org. Call or text 1-800-IN TOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to ENTouch, post office box 7900-Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Has someone hurt you? We'll hear a godly perspective on what to do next in today's moment with Charles Stanley. It's just a head. Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us. Head closer to Jesus as we all want to do and also discover all that he has for us.

21:51Help us to be fully prepared for God's purpose in our lives. So are you ready for the next step in your journey? It begins at the new Charles Stanley Institute. Bible-based, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-filled instruction so you can know God. You can learn how at Charles Stanley Institute.org. In our spiritual journey, we often have questions. How do I know God's will for my life? Does God hear my prayers? Why do bad things happen? The answers are found in the Word of God. But how do we know where to start? The free-in-touch devotional can help point you in the right direction with biblically-based content from Dr. Charles Stanley. You'll gain insight and wisdom through daily devotions, Bible studies, and more. Be in touch devotional, delivered monthly to your mailbox. Subscribe for free at ntouch.org slash daily. You're listening to ntouch. Anger and resentment are the natural responses to being hurt.

22:52But believers in Jesus should choose a different option. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley. Somebody had hurt me very deeply. Disappointed me. And one day, while I was thinking about that and studying for a message, it's like the Lord just brought something in my mind. And he just reminded me that when he was on the cross, he died for everybody's sins. He made it possible for everybody to be forgiven, and that every single believer covered in his atoning death, and he'd already forgiven them, pardon them. If Jesus Christ can forgive those who crucify him, nailed him to the cross and said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.

23:52What right do I have to hold against anyone an unforgiving spirit? Because in your mind, he also, Charles, what sin have you committed that I haven't forgiven? Oh my goodness. That was it. I don't have a right to be unforgiving. The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ was God's immeasurably expensive gift, freely offering us the forgiveness and eternal life we don't deserve. Have you personally received that gift from God? If not, please trust in Jesus today. Learn more at intouch.org. Tomorrow on Intouch, if you're a Christian, God forgave your sin once and for all at salvation. However, we still sin. Now that does not break our relationship with him, but it does get in the way of our fellowship with him, and our Heavenly Father has that covered. I hope you'll join us Friday for our continuing series,

24:53The Ways of God, on Intouch, the Teaching Ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of Intouch Ministries at Lanted Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.