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the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7, emphasis mine). In the original Greek text, the verb for “have” is in the present tense, which indicates
durative action
, meaning
we are continually having forgiveness of sins
, including every sin we will ever commit. 1
    Furthermore, 1 John 2:12 says, “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” The Greek perfect tense is used here for “are forgiven,” meaning this forgiveness is a definite action completed in the past, with the effect continuing into the present. 2 This means that God’s forgiveness avails for you in your present, and continues into your future.
    Let me give you another clear Scripture that states that all our sins, including our future sins, have been forgiven:
    You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave
all
our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
    —Colossians 2:13–14 NLT (emphasis mine)
    Jesus forgave
all
our sins! The word “all” in the above Scripture is the Greek
pas
, meaning “every kind or variety… the totality of the persons or things referred to.” 3 It refers to “all, any, every, the whole.” 4 So “all” means
all
. God’s forgiveness of our sins covers
every
sin—past,present, and future! When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we received the total and complete forgiveness of all our sins.
    In Hebrews 10:11–14, the Bible says, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
    Now, according to this Scripture, as a believer, for how long are you perfected?
    Forever!
    How can you be perfected forever, if your future sins are not forgiven?

Does Total Forgiveness Mean Right Behavior Isn’t Important?
    Many believers are worried that when the truth of the gospel is told like that, people will take advantage of the revelation of their total forgiveness in Christ and go on to lead godless lives. They are worried that such teaching places no emphasis on sanctification or the desire to live holy, God-glorifying lives. So allow me to explain here that while you have been justified and made righteous by the blood of Jesus or perfected forever, the truth is that sanctification is ongoing in your growth as a Christian. This is why the author of the book of Hebrews says that we are
being sanctified
even though we are
perfected forever
by Christ’s one act of obedience at the cross (see Heb. 10:14).
    As a believer you cannot become more righteous, but you canbecome more sanctified or holy in terms of how you live your life. Justification by faith happened instantaneously. The moment you received Jesus, you were forgiven, cleansed, perfected in righteousness, and saved. You were also sanctified
in Christ
(see Heb. 10:10). However, it is important to understand that the revelation and outworking of your sanctification in Christ is progressive. This means that the more you grow in your relationship with the Lord Jesus, the more holy you will become in every area of your life.
    I remember a precious brother writing to my ministry describing how the revelation of our forgiveness in Christ brought him into an intimacy with God that he had previously only dreamed about. “Previously, when I was
trying
to be a good Christian,” he said, “I was only
crawling
along, inch by inch. But now that I’ve got hold of grace, I’m
running
in my relationship with God! The more I learn about God’s amazing grace, the more I desperately want to glorify Him with my life!”
    What a beautiful, true-life picture of what really