Two Aspects of Forgiveness

The FORGIVENESS Needed For SALVATION "That through His Name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission [forgiveness] of sins" (Acts 10:43).	The FORGIVENESS Needed For FELLOWSHIP "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Some Key Verses: Luke 24:47 Acts 2:38; 3:19; 10:43; 26:18 Romans 4:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:11 Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14 Hebrews 10:17-18	Some Key Verses: 1 John 1:9 Psalm 51 Proverbs 28:13 Psalm 32:5 John 13:4-11
The person who needs this forgiveness: THE UNSAVED PERSON	The person who needs this forgiveness: THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST
The basis of this forgiveness: THE BLOOD OF CHRIST (the cross-work of Christ)--Ephesians 1:7.	The basis of this forgiveness: THE BLOOD OF CHRIST (the cross-work of Christ)--1 John 1:7-9.
The condition (what must the unsaved person do?): BELIEVE (Acts 10:43)	The condition (what must the believer do?): CONFESS (1 John 1:9).
The result: "clean every whit" (clean every bit! cleansed completely and entirely so that all sins are forgiven--past, present and future)--John 13:10 and see Colossians 2:13.	The Result: the believer's feet are cleansed (cleansed from the defilement that comes from walking in this world)--John 13:8-10
Without this forgiveness the person will DIE IN HIS SINS (John 8:24).	Without this forgiveness the believer can have no "PART" (partnership, fellowship, sharing in common) with Christ (John 13:8 and 1 John 1:5).
This forgiveness is needed and received ONCE FOR ALL (at the point of salvation).	This forgiveness is needed and received REPEATEDLY throughout the Christian life.
The person who is not forgiven does not have salvation--his sins are retained (John 20:23).	The person who is not forgiven does not enjoy the salvation that he has (Psalm 51:12).
The person who does not claim this forgiveness will be CONDEMNED (1 Corinthians 11:32).	The person who does not claim this forgiveness will be CHASTENED (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).
This involves a person's eternal standing with God.	This involves the believer's actual walk in time.
Those who claim this forgiveness are "IN CHRIST" (Eph. 1:7). (the believer's unchanging POSITION) The Believer's STANDING	Those who claim this forgiveness are "WALKING IN THE LIGHT" (1 John 1:7). (the believer's temporal CONDITION) The Believer's STATE

William MacDonald, in his book Here's the Difference [published by Gospel Folio Press], has a chapter in which he carefully distinguishes between these two aspects of forgiveness (see Chapter 7). He calls these two aspects "judicial forgiveness" (salvation forgiveness) and "parental forgiveness" (fellowship forgiveness). On page 51 of the above mentioned book, he presents a similar chart in which he makes the following comparisons and contrasts between these two aspects of forgiveness:

	Judicial	Parental
The Person's Status	Sinner (Rom. 3:23)	Child (1 John 3:2)
Relationship of God	Judge (Ps. 96:13)	Father (Gal. 4:6)
Result of sin	Eternal Death (Rom. 6:23)	Broken Fellowship (1 John 1:6)
Role of Christ	Savior (1 Tim. 1:15)	High Priest and Advocate (Heb. 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1)
The Person's Need	Salvation (Acts 16:30)	Joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12)
Means of Forgiveness	Faith (Acts 16:31)	Confession (1 John 1:9)
Kind of Forgiveness	Judicial (Romans 8:1)	Parental (Luke 15:21-22)
Consequence Averted	Hell (John 5:24)	Chastening (1 Cor. 11:31-32) Loss of reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:15)
Positive Result	New relationship (John 1:12)	Renewed fellowship (Psalm 32:5)
Frequency	Once for all (one bath of regeneration) (John 13:10)	Many times (many cleansings) (John 13:8)