I believe in the forgiveness of sins

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, two gifts are freely offered to all who will believe in Jesus: the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Through the Spirit we know new life in Christ, but before we can experience the new, the old has to be dealt with. Which is why, for all of us, our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven.

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The Bible is clear that every one of us is a sinner who has fallen short of God’s glory (Rom.3:23). Our pride wants to insist on our relative goodness, but even if that were true it’s irrelevant – the fact of any sin in our life means that we are inevitably barred from God’s holy presence (Isaiah 59:2). Yet, through Jesus’s death on the cross, God in his love has lavished his mercy and grace upon us, so that our sins can be completely forgiven (Rom.3:24; Eph.1:7; 2:4-5).

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This is the Gospel message: “Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38), a free gift to all who will turn to him. Our need for daily cleansing and forgiveness remains (John 13:10; 1 John 1:9), but with our sins forgiven we gratefully and lovingly live for him (Luke 7:47), forgiving others just as in Christ God has forgiven us (Eph.4:32; Matt.18:21-35).