1) Repentance—“Repentance for forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47).
Repenting unto God is the first step for sinners to receive God’s forgiveness of sins.
2) Faith—“Everyone who believes into Him [Christ] receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).
On the negative side, to repent is to turn away from sins, while on the positive side, to believe is to believe into Christ. To believe into Christ is to enter into Him and to be joined to Him. This is the second step for us to receive God’s forgiveness of sins. This step immediately follows repentance.
1) Fearing God—“But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psa. 130:4).
God’s forgiveness of sins causes us to fear Him. The more we enjoy God’s forgiveness of sins, the more we fear God.
2) Loving God—“Her sins which are many have been forgiven, because she [the sinful woman] loved much” (Luke 7:47).
This was the word spoken by the Lord regarding the sinful woman whose sins He had forgiven. The clause “because she loved much” does not refer to the reason for which the Lord forgave her. Rather, it refers to the testimony of her being forgiven by the Lord. Her loving the Lord much testified that she was forgiven by the Lord much. The more we are forgiven by the Lord, the more we love the Lord. Therefore, loving the Lord is an issue of being forgiven by the Lord.
1) “He [God] may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
This word here shows us that God’s cleansing us from our sins closely follows His forgiving us of our sins. When He forgives us of our sins, at the same time He cleanses us from our sins.
1) “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa. 51:7); “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).
When God forgives us of our sins, He exempts us from the penalty of sins; when God cleanses us from our sins, He erases the traces of our sins. If there were only the forgiveness of sins and not the cleansing away of sins, although our sins might be forgiven, the traces of our sins would still remain. Forgiveness is a legal procedure, whereas cleansing is an actual clearance. Concerning God’s righteous law, our sins need to be forgiven. Concerning the traces of sins in us, our sins need to be washed away. Thus, in God’s full salvation, He not only removes our record of sin before Him according to the righteousness of His law, but He also cleanses away the traces of sins in us. His cleansing away of our sins makes us as white as snow and as wool. The cleansing that makes us as white as snow is a positional cleansing from without; the cleansing that makes us white as wool is a cleansing of our nature from within.
1) “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
God’s cleansing us from our sins is of two aspects. One is in our outward position, while the other is in our inward nature. God’s outward and positional cleansing from our sins is through the blood of the Lord Jesus. The blood of the Lord Jesus, the God-man, outwardly and positionally cleanses us from all sin.
1) “Who [Christ]...having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).
This refers to the Lord Jesus who purified us from our sins before God once for all by the shedding of His blood on the cross, thus making us positionally pure before God and before His law.
1) “The blood of Christ...purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14).
The blood of the Lord does not purify our heart but our conscience within. Since the Lord’s blood cleanses us from our sins before God and His law, it also purifies our conscience before itself, thus enabling us to serve our living God with boldness.
1) “The washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5); “But you were washed...in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).
These two verses show us the life of God that regenerates us and our being cleansed by His Spirit. This is an inward cleansing in our nature by His life and by His Spirit. When we are regenerated, we receive God’s life and we have God’s Spirit dwelling in us. When God’s life grows in us and His Spirit moves in us, a metabolic function takes place which removes and washes away the uncleanness in our nature, in our disposition. Thus, we enjoy the cleansing away of sins in God’s full salvation both in our outward position and in our inward disposition.