Understanding Forgiveness, Freed From Condemnation
Pastor Prince, thank you for your faithful obedience in serving Christ by preaching and teaching the gospel of grace. I had my very first spiritual breakthrough halfway into your new book The Power of Right Believing.
At that time, I was struggling with the inability to forgive myself of a sin I had committed 13 years ago. I was able to receive God's forgiveness of my sin but I refused to forgive myself. I felt driven by guilt to punish myself daily for that sin. I believed that I had hurt God and, therefore, He would not bless me anymore. I believed that He was testing my faith and any failure on my part meant that I was unworthy to receive any kind of goodness from Him.
As I was reading in your book about condemnation and self-righteousness, I felt God speak to me about the blood of Jesus. He said, “If you do not forgive yourself, you are negating my Son's blood that was shed on the cross for you.” My heart suddenly saw the light when I heard those words! Finally, I understood what I had been doing all these years by refusing to forgive myself. I never wanted to negate the blood of Christ but that was exactly what I was doing.
God opened my heart and for the first time in my life, I completely understood what forgiveness truly is. Jesus died to take away the sins of the whole world whether the whole world knows it or not. Since I have been forgiven much, how can I honestly refuse to forgive others or even myself?
Thank you so much for sharing the gospel of grace. I have been a born-again baptized believer for 18 years and I have never heard preaching or teaching on grace the way you are proclaiming it. I believe God has called you to do a mighty work in His name to set His people free from wrong believing. Many Christians do not understand in their hearts that their sins are completely forgiven—I didn't until the Lord opened my heart through listening to you preach.
There is a great deception going on in the church today by the preaching of a mixed gospel. The confusing message of law and works plus grace that is being preached from the pulpit today is keeping many sincere Christians in bondage. We do not truly know who we are in Christ. We are suffering from an identity crisis. This mixture we are hearing keeps us defeated, depressed, sick, and dying.
I am praying for you, your family and your ministry to be blessed beyond measure. May our Father continue to give you life-revealing revelations that release His abundant favor into the lives of His children. Christ be glorified! Hallelujah!
Indiana, United States