in Romans 3:23: "Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God's glory" (NIRV). Sin happens. And it's destructive.
Apostles' Creed to say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." We are stuck in our sins without forgiveness
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love” (v. 18).
- Micah 7:18–19
Moreover, we are forgiven based on the work of the Son (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13–14). Still, the Holy Spirit must regenerate us before we will acknowledge our need of forgiveness and seek God’s pardon in Christ (John 3:5).
Coram Deo - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coram_Deo
Mobile · Coram Deo is a Latin phrase translated "in the presence of God" from Christian theology which summarizes the idea of Christians living in the presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God.
Heidleberg
COREM DEO
Those whom God forgives are forgiven indeed. He does not actually forget what we have done, but He no longer holds our wickedness against us when we trust in Christ. Through the blood of Christ, He sees us as righteous and acceptable in His sight, and He will not take this status from us. We find it hard not to hold the sins of others against them, but the Lord readily and easily refuses to hold our sins against us if we are in Christ.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/the-forgiveness-of-sins/
Christ pardons the sins of His people not on the basic of anything they did but by His free grace. The Westminster Confession of Faith states this well.
"Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins,and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God."
Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11 Of Justification Section 1
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
(Eph 1:7 NAS)
someone thinks they never sinned or that they are righteous on their own account, they will not receive forgiveness from God. Righteous people have no need of Christ dying for their sin, because, they do not believe they sinned. Those who are forgiven confess that they are sinners.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
(1Jo 1:8-10 NAS)
This does not mean confessing our sins saves us; but, the one who has forgiveness will confess their sins.
Source: http://apostles-creed.org/interpretation/the-forgiveness-of-sins/
John Wesley on Forgiveness (3)
Posted by Fr. Maney
The grace of God herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins, and enables us to leave them. As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ [consumed at the Eucharist]. This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection. If, therefore, we have any regard for the plain command of Christ, if we desire the pardon of our sins, if we wish for strength to believe, to love and obey God, then we should neglect no opportunity of receiving the Lord’s Supper; then we must never turn our backs on the feast which our Lord has prepared for us. This is the true rule: So often are we to receive [communion] as God gives us opportunity. Whoever, therefore, does not receive, but goes from the holy table, when all things are prepared, either does not understand his duty, or does not care for the divine command of his Saviour, the forgiveness of his sins, the strengthening of his soul, and the refreshing it with the hope of glory.
—Sermon 101, The Duty of Communion 7.148
While forgiveness is a grace bestowed on us by God, Wesley also taught that there are things we can do on our side to make us more open to receive God’s grace. Holy communion is an important means of grace by which we receive a sense of forgiveness and are equipped to love and obey the Lord.
Sources: http://maney.us/blog/2010/06/10/john-wesley-on-forgiveness-3/
Forgive Our Sins: A Prayer By John Wesley
Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
…..and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
…..and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
….and the sins by which we have made others offend;
forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake,who died for our sins and rose for our justification,.and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
…..and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
…..and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
…..and the sins by which we have made others offend;
forgive them, O Lord,
forgive them all for his sake,
…..who died for our sins and rose for our justification,
…..and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
John Wesley, however, follows more closely a different strand of theology in the Western and the Orthodox (Eastern) tradition that understands salvation is bothsomething God does and in which we cooperate, though not as equals by any means. Only God can initiate salvation. But only by our ongoing, living relationship with God through faith can God's saving intention be fully realized in our lives.
n our Wesleyan-Arminian theology, as in all mainstream Christian theology, salvation still isn't ours to possess. It is always and only God who saves. In that sense we cannot "lose" salvation. But we can "fall away" from it. Or to use another metaphor, we can move so far from the saving streams of God's love and power that we parch and spiritually die. The consistent focus of Wesley's teaching, however, is far less the warning about the possibility of such death and thus ultimately Hell (though he does not shrink from offering such warnings upon occasion, even as noted in the quote above), but rather upon the consistent, unfailing grace of the God revealed in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ, the God who is abounding in mercy and steadfast love.
Perhaps the better phrase, though one Wesley himself did not use, would be one that starts where Calvin starts-not with us (as once saved, always saved often seems to do), but with God. "God is out to save us, one and all." Though we have no faith we can articulate, God is out to save us, one and all. Though our faith may grow dim and our works disorderly, God is out to save us, one and all. Though we may lose our way and do terrible things to others, God is out to save us, one and all. And though for some God's efforts to save may still leave them in spiritual death and Hell, God is out to save us, one and all.
Perhaps the better phrase, though one Wesley himself did not use, would be one that starts where Calvin starts-not with us (as once saved, always saved often seems to do), but with God. "God is out to save us, one and all." Though we have no faith we can articulate, God is out to save us, one and all. Though our faith may grow dim and our works disorderly, God is out to save us, one and all. Though we may lose our way and do terrible things to others, God is out to save us, one and all. And though for some God's efforts to save may still leave them in spiritual death and Hell, God is out to save us, one and all.
- Taylor Burton Edwards
Umc.org
