By Mike Lii

I. Introduction: Evangelism Based on the Forgiveness of Sins

Have you ever heard the gospel presented as follows: “Believe in Jesus so that all your sins—past, present, and future—will be forgiven.” This kind of gospel presentation tells one to believe in Jesus for “the forgiveness of sins.”

Is a gospel presentation that focuses solely on the forgiveness of sins enough if it doesn’t lead the listener to understand the concept of believing in Jesus for everlasting life? For instance, could someone believe that Jesus has forgiven all their sins (even those they haven’t committed yet) but not know where they will spend eternity when they die? The answer to this question is complex and hinges on how one defines everlasting life and forgiveness of sins.

II. The Central Message in the Gospel of John Is Everlasting Life

The purpose of the Gospel of John is to lead a person to believe in Jesus for everlasting life (John 20:30-31; 11:25-26). The terms everlasting life, eternal life, and live forever are used repeatedly in John’s Gospel (e.g., John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:47, 58; 10:28). The core concept of everlasting life is apparent in the term itself. It is called life, indicating that upon death, one’s destiny is in a wonderful place with Jesus and His people. And it is called everlasting, indicating that this life with Jesus lasts forever, is guaranteed and irrevocable, and can therefore never be lost.

Everlasting life is the permanent solution to our death problem. Recall Jesus’ comforting words to Martha after the death of her brother, Lazarus:

Jesus said to her [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:25-27).

In light of her brother’s death, Jesus’ words comforted Martha. He made two promises regarding any person who believes that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God. He promised that even if that person dies, he shall live. He further promised that in another sense, that person would never die. To believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is to believe Jesus’ promise to give everlasting life to everyone who believes in Him for that life.

Jesus’ conversation with Martha after Lazarus’s death gives us the essential understanding of everlasting life: Everlasting life means that death is not the end for the one who has believed in Jesus. Every believer in Jesus will live with Him in a wonderful place forever.

This essential understanding was reinforced when, immediately after being on the verge of killing himself, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” His eternal destiny was foremost on his mind (Acts 16:27-31).

III. What Is the Forgiveness of Sins?

What is the significance of sins having been forgiven? When believers have known, unconfessed sins in their lives, they need forgiveness from God because these sins act as a barrier to the believer’s fellowship with God. Forgiveness of sins means that this barrier has been removed.

Believers have everlasting life that can never be lost, and that reality is unaffected by sin in a believer’s life. But while in their mortal, sinful bodies, believers’ experience of fellowship with God may be lost by unconfessed, and therefore unforgiven, sins. Unforgiven sins result in broken fellowship with God. When a believer confesses his known sins, God forgives all the believer’s sins. This forgiveness removes any barrier that a believer may have in his relationship with God, and fellowship between the believer and God is restored (1 John 1:9). One day, when they are no longer in their sinful flesh (and thus no longer able to sin), believers will experience a complete and everlasting forgiveness. Until then, believers will sin and will need ongoing forgiveness in order to resume fellowship with God.

At the initial moment of belief in Jesus for everlasting life, a believer also receives the forgiveness of sins and is immediately in fellowship with God (Acts 10:43). However, this initial forgiveness experienced at the moment of the new birth is not once-and-for-all as a believer will need ongoing forgiveness from God whenever one’s sin in his life is revealed.

Ongoing forgiveness of sins is dependent upon ongoing confession of sins, which is a work. If one presents forgiveness of sins as the saving message, he must then go on to explain how eternal life relates to Bible passages in which ongoing forgiveness is conditioned upon works (Acts 2:38; Matthew 18:21-35; 1 John 1:9). To mistakenly present these passages as describing a once-and-for-all forgiveness will confuse the listener, leading him into thinking that works such as being baptized, forgiving others, and confessing sins are required for salvation.

IV. Is Belief in Jesus for Forgiveness of Sins the Same as Belief in Him for Everlasting Life?

Forgiveness concerns the state of our current personal relationship with God. It does not answer the question of what happens when one dies. Since forgiveness and everlasting life are two different blessings, it is possible to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of past, present, and future sins and yet be unsure of one’s eternal destiny. In other words, a person can believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins but yet not believe in Him for everlasting life.¹

If one evangelizes by discussing the forgiveness of sins, he must explain that the believer in Jesus receives irrevocable everlasting life the moment he believes in Him.

V. Is Forgiveness Found in the Gospel of John?

It is quite telling that the Gospel of John never presents the saving message as “He who believes in Me has the forgiveness of sins.” Only one verse in John uses the word forgive. John 20:23 states: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Note that this single use of forgiveness speaks of forgiveness given by men, not by God. The Gospel of John is the sole book in the Bible with the explicit purpose of leading people to believe in Jesus for everlasting life. The Gospel of John never records Jesus evangelizing by telling people they need forgiveness of sins. Instead, Jesus focused on their need for everlasting life (John 4:10), which only comes from believing in Him for that life.

VI. Conclusion: Do Not Forget Everlasting Life

The initial forgiveness of sins and resultant fellowship with God when we first believe in Jesus is a tremendous blessing. However, the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life are not equivalents. When evangelizing, we may want to tell someone about the blessings of forgiveness and fellowship. But, like Jesus in the Gospel of John, let us emphasize the gift He gives to those who believe in Him: everlasting life.

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Mike Lii is a finance attorney. He and his wife, Letitia, a member of the GES board, and their son, Payton, live in Dallas and serve at Vista Ridge Bible Fellowship in Lewisville, Texas. Mike and Letitia also run the Zane Hodges Library online (zanehodges.org).

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¹ Editor’s note: I met such a person at a Bible church conference at which I was speaking. She was persuaded that by believing in Jesus, all of her sins, even future ones, were forgiven. However, she believed that if she fell away morally or doctrinally, she would lose her salvation. While some people who believe in total forgiveness are convinced they are eternally secure, others are not. If someone evangelizes using this method, he must stress that the believer is saved once and for all. It would be worth asking, “If a person who believed in Jesus later became an immoral person and died out of fellowship with God, where would he go?” If the person said, “He’d go to hell,” then you know he did not understand the promise of irrevocable life/salvation.