Holiness and God’s Forgiveness of Sins: Which Sins Are Ineligible?


By Rev. Rob Roy McGregor A


ccording to the Bible, human beings inherit the sin of Adam when they are born. Adam’s sin includes all possible sins that a hu- man being is capable of. In the New Testament, people who received the - en of the sins of Adam and saved and made righteous by forgiveness before knowing they were forgiven and be- fore doing any righteous deed. These righteous people are now believers because they believe that Jesus’ work on the cross saved them. That single belief constitutes the faith that saved them quite apart from anything else they may yet believe or do or trust or have faith in. They are righteous be- cause they were forgiven of the sins of Adam while still inhabiting the   sin, they are righteous. Their spiritual condition is righteous.      who brings with him the character and the power of the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, these new creatures in Christ are now able to perform the same spiritual acts       - pable of sinning. These spiritual acts done in the likeness of Jesus are the righteous acts of those set apart from the world upon the reception of the   of the church, unassailable by death, that Jesus died to build.     


       Christ are now, in their new condi- tion, not guilty of the sins of Adam committed after their redemption. These sins of Adam are forgivable upon repentance, repentance being


May/June 2026


sorrow for sin with the determination to separate themselves from it. True re- pentance reestablishes the condition of righteousness. On the other hand, in- tentional sin, deliberate sin, repeated sin, is not eligible for forgiveness in the absence of repentance. That kind of sin is a willing continuation of attachment to the world, not separation from it, and is proof that the individual is not living the life of Jesus and will not be at home in the righteous kingdom of God. A new creature in Christ separates himself from the world as he abandons


- ture in Christ, righteous and capable of doing what is right, now does the right thing regarding all other human beings. The Apostle James informs his readers that those who know what is right and do not do it commit sin and that those who do not know the right thing to do do not know God. Knowing the right thing to do and not doing it is a different category of sin that is very different from the sins of Adam, which sins separate individuals from others and God. This different category of sin does not separate individuals from others but fos- ters forgiveness, kindness, compassion, mercy, and similar loving and peace- making acts. This different category of sin can be confessed to other believers and to God and is forgivable apart from the sins of Adam and gladly corrected and avoided. To the contrary, those who do not know the right thing to do in dealing with others remain unredeemed, separated from God, and heirs of the divisive sins of Adam. Since different-category sinners are separated from the world because they,


forgiven, are righteous and doers of what is right, they are called saints, “holy ones,” sancti in Latin. A sanctus is one who has been “made holy” and is said to 


Now what does it mean to be holy? The single characteristic that God in-


    from the world, holy ones who continue to become more separated from the   


church before the return of Jesus at the end time? 


     Revelation, the revealing angel tells John what the church is to do until Jesus - 


Because of their righteous and holy lifestyle, individual members of the


church demonstrate that they are living the life of Jesus and belong to and are at home in the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Prayer: God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and our God and Father, stir


 is right consistently and to be holy, separate from the world, even as you are holy. Amen


Rev. Rob Roy McGregor is a retired ARP Minister. 23


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