Forgiven, Forgiving and Free
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The Pipe Cleaner1 Digging Deeper
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That Big Pencil Without an Eraser1 Digging Deeper
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RUN, Spot, R-U-N1 Digging Deeper
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Give God Your G-U-I-L-T1 Digging Deeper
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Bustin’ Up Boulders1 Digging Deeper
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Stoned!1 Digging Deeper
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Forgiveness Starts With the Heart1 Digging Deeper
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Downright Difficult1 Digging Deeper
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Living Inside Another’s Skin1 Digging Deeper
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When I Cry and Want to Know Why1 Digging Deeper
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The “Blame” Game1 Digging Deeper
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No Pain, Now What…?1 Digging Deeper
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Group Progress
Group Progress
RUN, Spot, R-U-N
In what ways did God use people to reveal His forgiveness to mankind?
He “Promised” forgiveness to the Patriarchs at the beginning of the Bible
Genesis 12:3
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Galatians 3:8
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
He “Prepared” forgiveness, using the Jewish people.
Genesis 28:14
14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Matthew 1:1-2, 16, 22-23
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”
He “Provided” forgiveness by sending Jesus to live like us and die for us.
1 John 4:14
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
God promised and had a plan to forgive our sins from the beginning. God prepared mankind for forgiveness through all of His work in the Old Testament. God has provided forgiveness by sacrificing His Son, which is the good news message of the New Testament. How does all of this effect your understanding of God and His desire to forgive you of your past?
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Acts 20:32
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
We can’t change God’s plan for forgiveness, but thankfully, His plan is very simple. In Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved because of what? How do we gain access to it?
For by grace (more literally, “because of grace”) — Grace made forgiveness possible.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Saved through faith — Faith allows us to access and continue to enjoy a state of forgiveness.
Romans 4:20-21
20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Romans 5:1
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How do you own forgiveness or how do you make it a blessing you personally enjoy?
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
What does it mean for forgiveness to be conditional? What must we do to receive forgiveness and to remain forgiven by God?
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Mark 16:16
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.