HOW DO I CONFESS MY SINS AND KNOW THAT GOD FORGIVES ME?
Translated from Afrikaans: Hoe bely ek my sondes en weet ek dat God my vergewe het?
Sakkie Parsons
Someone asked me the following question and I repeat his question as faithfully as possible:
“How do I confess my sins if I can’t even remember them all and how do I know that God has forgiven me ?”
Personally, I deal with this problem as follows:
First, I know that He, with whom I talk about my sins, is God Almighty and of course also Omniscient (All-knowing and All-seeing)
He can see into my heart and therefore He knows for sure when I talk to Him about my sins, whether I really mean all my sins when I ask Him to: “Please forgive all my sins.”
Psm 69:5 O God, You know my folly;
My wrongs are not hidden from You.
You see – if I ask our Lord to forgive my sins, He, the All-Knowing God, knows whether I really mean it or not; and whether I mean all my sins or not; and then, I believe, He acts according to what He sees.
That’s why I only must ask Him to forgive all my sins and really mean it like that and He take ‘the brush’, the blood of Jesus and He ‘wipe the blackboard clean’ and not even the angels in heaven can ever see again what was written on that blackboard. To then be guilty of that sin again, I will literally have to go and do it again.
1JOHN 1:5-10 God Is Light
5This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection]. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth; 7but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. 8If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.] 9If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. 10If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.
Because our loving Father know that we are fallible people, with fallible human minds, and we do not even for one day are able to remember all the wrong that come into our hearts and that come out of our mouths and that go through our eyes to our brains, and that go through our ears to our brains – let alone to list them one by one – has Jesus, who gave His precious blood; precisely to wash us clean of those dirty sins, which we cannot even remember all of them for a day, HE told us:
Matthew 6:9-13
9“Pray, then, in this way:‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.10‘Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.11‘Give us this day our daily bread.12‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].13‘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.]’
Do you see what Jesus is saying about how you should pray about your sin?
You don’t have to call everyone by name, anyway you weren’t born able to do that. No, you just need to truly repent of the fact that you have failed Him in many ways, and with that real repentance in your heart, apologize to your Father for all the times since the last time you apologised:
Mat 6:9 ” Pray, then, in this way:…
Mat 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.
If I then ask Him to forgive all my sins that I have committed today and really mean it, with a sincere intention – which He can see in my heart, – then I have this glorious certain knowledge:
1JOHN 1:9 9If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].
As I always say, I say again now – when our Lord is saying:
1JHN 1:9 ” … and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness
Then you can know for sure, that is, He cleanse us from all injustice.
Right now, right where you are sitting, you can pray the following prayer:
“Lord, I know that I allowed a lot of wrong things in my life again today. I ask please, examine my heart and forgive me all my sins that I have done. I know You can see everything. Nothing is hidden from You. Please forgive me. I ask you this in the name of Jesus and I thank you very much. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer in sincerity, you are now sitting there as a clean-washed child of God.
The New Living Translation put it this way:
PSM 103:11-14
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
To summarize then:
You ask: “Then how do I know that God has forgiven me?”
If you truly repent of what you have done, you have our Lord’s Word, that He has forgiven you.
Now you can boldly praise and thank Him.
A further Thought from the Word that connects to this and which you can order from me is: “Confess to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”
I include this link of a song (in Afrikaans) which our Lord gave me regarding His forgiveness:
Greetings,
Sakkie
Email: bediening@sakkieparsons.co.za
Website: www.sakkieparsons.co.za
Cell: 083 457 6669
Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
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