In Justification What Sins Does God Forgive?
​Romans 3:10 tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Since God says we all are sinners, what sins do you know and feel in your heart? Might you be a person who feels your sins are too many, or are too terrible, to ever be forgiven?
I counselled a woman once, years ago, who had had an abortion. With a heavy heart and tear stained eyes she told me what she had done – murdered her unborn child. She thought she had committed the unforgiveable sin and that God would never forgive her. As much as I tried to assure her that God’s forgiveness was there for her, she left as grieved as she had been when she came in, and I never saw her again.
May you never be like that woman, for there is no need for you to be that way because of God’s teaching in the Bible about justification. For according to the biblical teaching of justification, look at what sins God forgives.
Psalm 103:2, 3 say, “Bless the Lord, . . . who forgives all your sins.” So according to God’s biblical teaching of justification what sins of yours does God forgive? He forgives you all your sins, right?
And look whose sins 1 John 2:2 says God forgives because Jesus gave his perfect life as the appeasing sacrifice for sins: “And he himself is the appeasing sacrifice for our sins, and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world.” So according to God’s biblical teaching of justification whose sins does God forgive? He forgives the sins of the whole world, of all people everywhere.
It needs to be pointed out that in justification God forgives the sins of all people everywhere, not just the sins of a certain elect number of people. God’s forgiving all people their sins is called objective, or universal, justification.
​So then, is there any reason for you to feel like you have committed the unforgiveable sin because your sin is too terrible or your sins are too many? No. For in justification God forgives all your sins, and you know that he forgives you because he says he forgives all people everywhere – that includes you! May this gracious teaching of God’s justifying you enable you to go in peace – your sins are forgiven!