{"id":111051,"date":"2026-09-06T20:10:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T00:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=111051"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:11:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T00:11:30","slug":"pastors-thoughts-are-you-forgiven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/09\/06\/pastors-thoughts-are-you-forgiven\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor&#8217;s Thoughts: Are you forgiven?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Pastor Wayne Sibrava<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For The Pennysaver<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s easy to forget what words really mean when we\u2019re busy with life. Nowadays, our opinions can shape how we understand words, along with what we\u2019ve come to believe they mean. But remember, words have a specific meaning, especially when it comes to the Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, the word \u201cforgiveness\u201d can be twisted. I remember when I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar and my mom told me, \u201cNot before supper,\u201d and I sarcastically said, \u201cSorry.\u201d Of course, I didn\u2019t mean it; my mom knew it, and there was no forgiveness. Another example is when someone offends another, and they say, \u201cIf I offended you, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d But when you offend someone, you need to own it and apologize so that forgiveness can be given.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to the biblical word \u201cforgiveness,\u201d there\u2019s a very specific meaning. In the Bible, there\u2019s a wonderful verse that explains this: 1 John 1:9 (ESV) 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This verse shows us that confession means admitting our sin before forgiveness can happen. Confession means owning up to what we\u2019ve done and taking responsibility. When we come clean and confess our sin, God is said to forgive and then cleanse us from our sin. Forgiveness means God sending away the sin, and cleansing means healing and restoration in one\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, to have a relationship with God, you need to do three things:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; First, admit that you\u2019ve sinned, and that\u2019s true for everyone: Romans 3:23 (ESV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-Second, one must believe that Jesus died and rose again to pay for sin: 1 Peter 3:18 (NLT) 18 Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-Finally, a person must confess Jesus personally: Romans 10:9 (ESV) 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important decision anyone can make is to be sure they know for sure that when they die, they go to heaven&#8230;and there is only One Way. And that One Way is through a person and His Name is Jesus. I urge you to admit your sin, believe Jesus paid the price, and confess Him as your Lord. Amen!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Pastor Wayne Sibrava For The Pennysaver It\u2019s easy to forget what words really mean when we\u2019re busy with life. Nowadays, our opinions can shape&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":110967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pastor&#039;s Thoughts: Are you forgiven? - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2026\/09\/06\/pastors-thoughts-are-you-forgiven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pastor&#039;s Thoughts: Are you forgiven? - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Pastor Wayne Sibrava For The Pennysaver It\u2019s easy to forget what words really mean when we\u2019re busy with life. 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