Think About It #3: Can We Be Made Alive With Christ If All Our Sins Aren’t Forgiven?

Think about it.

If all of our sins aren’t forgiven, can we be made alive with Christ?

Colossians 2:13 says,

"God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins..."

Notice the connection between being made alive with Christ and having all of our sins forgiven.

So what’s the implication?

To be made alive with Christ, all of our sins must be forgiven.

So why must all of our sins be forgiven for us to be made alive with Christ?

Here is why.

God lovingly warned Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

When Adam chose to eat from the tree, sin and death entered the human race and spread to everyone (Romans 5:12-21).

Consequently, everyone is born sinful and spiritually dead – disconnected from God (Ephesians 2:1).

Jesus, in grace, took all of our sins upon himself at the cross.

He defeated death when he arose from the grave - fully alive.

Through faith in Jesus, we receive forgiveness of all of our sins.

Because we have been forgiven of all our sins, we have been made alive with Jesus in his resurrection (Romans 5:21; Ephesians 2:4-6).

If all of our sins aren’t forgiven, then we can't be made alive with Christ.

It only takes one unforgiven sin to cause spiritual death.

Additionally, if all of our sins aren't forgiven, then each time we sin we die spiritually – back into the grave.

Think about it.

How many sins did Adam commit for him to experience spiritual death?

One.

How many unforgiven sins would it take for us to experience spiritual death?

One.

So if there is just one sin that we commit that is not already forgiven, then we die spiritually – disconnected from God - back into the grave.

That’s why Colossians 2:13 says “you have been made alive with Christ. God forgave us of all sins.”

Why does it matter that we know that all of our sins are forgiven?

Because pastors, Bible teachers, book writers, etc... continually tell believers they need to ask God for forgiveness of their sins.

They are told they must confess each individual sin to God so they can be forgiven.

These pastors, teachers, and writers take verses under the old testament and apply them to new testament believers, such as applying Matthew 6 and Matthew 18 where Jesus says that unless we forgive others we can’t be forgiven by God.

Matthew 6 and 18 are before the cross of Jesus...before his blood was shed on the cross...therefore, they are under the old testament of law.

Since most pastors, teachers, and writers do not realize this truth, they constantly teach believers to ask God to forgive them for each sin.

This keeps believers in bondage to guilt.

Yet God wants believers freed by grace.

We experience the freedom of grace when we know we are fully forgiven of all sins for all time, and, as a result are eternally alive with Christ.

We never need to ask God for forgiveness because we are forgiven of all sins and are alive with Christ at this very moment.

If all of our sins aren't forgiven, then we can't be made alive with Christ.

Think about it.