When Jesus Christ prayed this He was asking the Father to extend forgiveness to the world, that whoever wanted to be saved would trust in Christ.
However, at other times when Christ healed people or spoke to them when they were repentant, He said; "your sins are forgiven." He had the authority to forgive sins but when it came to extending forgiveness to a wicked world, only the Father could provide it through Christ's death on the cross.
Forgiveness is not for the unrepentant but the Father offers it to them if they will confess to be cleansed.
No relationship can be reconciled until the offender is sorry. Sometimes it is both parties and other times it is only one party who refuses to discuss a matter to resolve it cleanly.
Those who will not admit their sin and desire to be changed will not be forgiven by God. Those who will not forgive when someone has repented will not be forgiven by God.
Only those who have confessed to be cleansed by God and desire to be changed will be forgiven.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Notice the words; "IF WE CONFESS", the words most Christians today are ignoring.
I am astonished at how many verses people leave out to justify modern psychological thinking. Bad doctrine leads to chaos and unrepentance, with the expectation that those who are in sin must be forgiven even if they never confess, love their sin, and are stubborn against those who confront the sin.
So many things modern Christianity has taught has thwarted healing and the message of salvation. Whatever we believe we need to go to scripture and make sure it is what God said and not what man has been teaching.
Just because everyone believes a certain way does not make that way right. In these last days there is much apostasy in the church, many things people believe are wrong.
Romans 3:3-4 "…3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Certainly not! Let God be TRUE and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”"
It takes faith to search the scriptures and trust in Christ more than we trust in man. It takes faith to go against the culture when you think you are the only one who understands what God said in His Word.
It is the Holy Spirit Who teaches us. He may bring alongside someone who cares about what God says more than what man says, but this will be rare in our time. Most people in churches today love their "traditions" more than they love God.
Matthew 15:3 "3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?"
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
These passages were written to the Jews but are for us too, since mankind has not changed. People often become insecure when someone challenges what they have always known. Their trust is in their traditions not in Christ. So many things "Christians" love today actually defy the word of God but they will defend them at the expense of godly relationships.
May we all evaluate every single thing we believe or like to believe, according to the Word of God and not our family's traditions.
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