Answer to: "What does it mean to be forgiven by God? (Are there still consequences for my sin?)"
Hello everyone. Thanks for reading :)
Sorry about my extended leave of absence. Who knew college life was so busy? I apparently was unaware.
Today's topic is forgiveness, not an easy thing for many people to talk about.
Let's break this question into two parts.
The first question: What does it mean to be forgiven by God?
Well, to answer literally, it means that God has forgiven you. 
However, I am assuming the writer of this question was asking something along the lines of, How are we forgiven by God?
Well, that's a bit more complicated.
God forgives us through his son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins.
However, it isn't just that simple.
There is a forgiveness process.
The first step is Contrition, or being sorry for your sins. This is not just pretending, or faking, you are truly sorry for what you did.
The second step is Confession, or saying your sins and naming them out loud. This is actually saying you are sorry.
The third step is Penance, or acting differently. Once you are truly sorry and have said it out loud, you need to try to act differently.
The fourth step is Absolution, or forgiveness. This is when the complete and total forgiveness plays a part.
Ironically, those four steps are also the steps of the sacrament of Reconciliation (here).
Neat, huh?
So, once this process is completed, you are forgiven.
Try using this process also when forgiving someone else, which God calls us to do no matter what:
Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22
Now, Jesus does not mean that you should count how many times you have forgiven people, and when you get to 77 to stop. He means that you should ALWAYS forgive others.
Sometimes this is really hard, and sometimes not so hard.
But strive to forgive others in your life.
Well, that's all for now.
Hopefully, I will write again soon.
In the meantime, if you are bored, read through the book of Acts. It's great stuff, I just read it recently.
Your Witness in Christ,
Emily 
2 comments
Ok if god is true why would he be so different on people. when has he chosen anyone to be blessed. why have so many religions spawened to have the same message. who i right who is wrong. tell me and i will give back all my satanic ways if you can tell me how god will save me
Hello natas. These are some good questions, and I will try my best to answer them. First, I am trying to understand what you are saying, are you asking why people suffer if everyone is a child of God or something like that? Second, many religions do have similar beliefs, it\'s just slight differences between them that cause them to be different religions. No one religion is the \"right\" religion, it just depends on what you believe. The great mystery behind having faith in God is that we do not know all the answers as to who is wrong or right, it\'s just believing that Jesus Christ came to Earth to save us all from our sins and that we can go to heaven too if we live good lives that God saves us by.