Future Forgiveness

Thank God for grace! None of us deserve eternal life but God made that available through the death and resurrection of His Son. We need to continue receiving that grace to fulfill His plans and purposes for us on this earth.

A doctrine I’ve heard taught by some modern grace teachers is that once you’re saved, all your past, present, and future sins are forgiven. For a while I kept thinking, something isn’t right about the future part. Then I read Michael Brown’s book “Hyper-Grace” in which he shares this powerful analogy…

“It’s as if you have a debit card with a prepaid amount of one million dollars, but the account is not charged until you go out and use it. In the same way, the forgiveness of all of our sins has been prepaid, but that forgiveness is not applied in advance. It is applied as needed.”

The Lord also gave me this illustration. If you’re married, there have been times you said or did things that hurt your spouse. Your marriage didn’t suddenly end but that relationship was strained until you apologized and asked for forgiveness. No one has ever been a perfect husband or wife.

Likewise, anyone who is part of the Bride of Christ will occasionally say or do things that are wrong. Any believer who claims he never sins is a liar. 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Fortunately, the next verse mentions the forgiveness available for when we blow it: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Yes, forgiveness for future sins is available but is to be received when needed. Jesus may have said on the cross “it is finished” but every believer is a work in progress. A Christian serious about his walk with the Lord won’t practice sin but still misses it from time to time. We all have room for improvement. 

So the next time you feel convicted when messing up, don’t live in condemnation. Confess it before the Lord (and others when necessary) and then move on.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” - Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

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