Nowhere does that suggest that Jesus meant FUTURE sins, as well. Otherwise, WHY did Christ give the Apostles the ministry of forgiveness of sins AFTER THE RESURRECTION??? There is nothing in the Scripture that suggests that a person could not fall away. Remember, all of the letters of the Scripture were addressed to OTHER CHRISTIANS. And over and over, the writers warn them to persevere, to beware not to fall away, to not be tepid in their faith.
Please note while our Lord Jesus opened this man's eyes, he didn't understand who the Messiah was until Christ revealed Himself to him. Where is the "universal call" that we hear everyone telling us about? The Lord doesn't do the same for the Pharisee and specifically states their "sin remains".
Jesus over and over called to the Pharisees! Jesus noted it was THEIR BLINDNESS, their stubborn hearst, not Christ's lack of calling that kept them in the dark. They REFUSED to believe that Jesus was offering something that was outside of their little box they built for God.
Regards
Jo: "Nowhere does that suggest that Jesus meant FUTURE sins, as well. ... There is nothing in the Scripture that suggests that a person could not fall away."
No one is saying that when Jesus said "your sins are forgiven" it meant the person would never sin again. It just means that ALL of the person's sins (past, present, and future) were forgiven at once. Does Jesus have the authority to do that? I would say "YES". If Jesus had the authority to die (pay) for all of our sins at once, why doesn't He have the authority to forgive all of our sins at once.
Of course, the Bible commands us to confess our sins both to God and to one another. That is good, and we have assurance they will be forgiven of God. The real difference we have is whether or how this is tied in to salvation or not.
1 John 2:1-2 : 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Under what circumstances will Jesus not speak for a believer? If he hasn't confessed his latest sins yet?
Ps. 103:12 : as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
That is, only until the next sin?
Rom. 8:1 : Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ...
Does this mean no one is in Christ Jesus until he confesses his last sin before he dies?