Don and Wendy Francisco Articles

Forgiven Once And For All
Over and over we hear that people believe that God turns His back on believers because of sin. But the Bible tells us not to repeatedly dwell on sin, but to move on, believing that the Cross has paid the debt, and that our sins have been removed from us as far as east is from west.

Jesus said He would NEVER leave us or forsake us... He didn't say He would only be close to us when we behaved.

God is not an angry, impatient, hard to please father who heaps a heavy performance load on us. What has happened to our faith that so many people are broken and shattered by the weight of it's yoke??

This is not the Gospel. First John tells us that if we recognize and acknowledge the sinful state that we are in, God cleanses us from the condition of sin once and for all. That is a verse about being born again, not a verse that traps us into constant groveling before God because of our mistakes until at last we give up, believing that we can never attain righteousness. We can't ever attain it, it's a gift, once and for all.

We cannot grow into the full measure of Christ until we understand who we are as believers. Accepting the fact that we STAND forgiven before the Father is the first step to understanding who we are in Jesus.

People who say that God turns away from sinners are giving human attributes to God. But His ways are not like ours... His love remains a steadfast constant through all of our mistakes.

Our complete forgiveness is the foundation of the Good News. Our faith is not fearful slavery to God. It is a friendship with a Messiah who died as a sacrifice for our sins, once and for all... for all sins, for all people, for all time. When we believe that this is true, a REAL relationship with God begins!.