FORGIVING
THE DIFFICULT, CRITICAL, DELICATE STEP
Bible Study Worksheet
Prepare your heart for this study by reading Psalm 51.
Have you ever felt you'd confessed a sin so many times, God was tired of it and
wouldn't hear you if you confessed again? ______________________
1. One of the short-circuits to a life of joy, power, and victory, is the
neglect of,
or
wrong confession of
sin. See 1 John 1:9. The word “confess,” is interpreted “to
agree with God,” i.e. to name the sin. If we name the sin, with a
repentant heart, when does God forgive? __________________________
A lady asked her pastor, “Do we confess them when we do them, or do we
bunch 'em?” What do you think?
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Psalm 19:12-14 reveals two kinds of sins:
“errors”
or
“secret faults”
– which we commit toward others we are unaware of, and
“presumptuous sins”
which we know we commit and don't care. Unless someone tells us of our
“errors” we can't ever confess and get it right with a person. God
holds them, not us accountable. Jesus commands,
“If you have anything against your brother, go to your brother. . . ."
It's always OUR MOVE. Repent! (a change of attitude that results in a change
of life). God may put on your heart to make restitution for the sin you have
done.
2. When we name our sins to God, or at the instant we receive Christ, WHAT
HAPPENS TO OUR SIN? See Isaiah 53:6
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And Ephesians 1:7
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Psalm 103:12, 14
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Isaiah 38:17
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Jeremiah 31:34
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Micah 7:19
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3. When You DO CONFESS SIN SCRIPTURALLY, there is no past in your future and no
future in your past, but we can have emotions “hangover.”
4. WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A CONFESSION GOD ACCEPTS? Luke 6:12
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Why should we confess?
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Do we need to
feel forgiven
to be forgiven?
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Do we have to feel a certain way, for God to
accept our forgiveness
for other's sins against us?
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Read Psalm 51, AGAIN. If we follow the basics of forgiveness in this chapter of
Psalms, how should we confess?
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5. Look at Jesus' multiple warnings. Why is
our
forgiving all others critical? Matthew 6:14, 15; Mark 11:25, 26; Luke 11:4;
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Matthew 18:21-22
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Matthew 18:23-25
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How, and when should we forgive others? 2 Correnthians 2:5-10; Ephesians 4:32;
Colossians 3:13:
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