How Do We Receive Forgiveness ?
1) We must confess our sins
Psalm 32:5
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my inquiry
I said I will confess all my transgressions to the Lord
And you forgave the guilt of my sin
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness
We must repent of our sins !
Acts 2:38
Peter replied depend and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of you sins and you will receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:19
Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord.
Meaning of Refreshing
In the light of these considerations, the passage may be rendered thus: "Repent and be converted unto the blotting out of your sins, so that seasons of refreshing may come, and (so that) He may send Jesus."
How, then, shall we understand and apply the meaning of this remarkable sentence, covering, as it does, three events: (1) Repentance of a kind and degree that results in the blotting out of sins; (2) seasons of refreshing; and (3) the coming of Jesus? That Peter is here referring to the second coming of Jesus is made clear in verse 21, where he says the work of Jesus is in heaven "until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken . . . since the world began." The time of restitution is the time of His second coming. To clear the way for that coming, two things closely related must take place,—the blotting out of sins and seasons of refreshing. Back of these lies the fundamental necessity of repentance and conversion.
The word "refreshing" is of much interest. It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament except in its verb form by Paul in writing to Timothy that Onesiphorus had "oft refreshed" him. Its literal meaning is renewing, or reviving, or restoring, in spirit. Repentance and conversion always bring refreshing or reviving of spirit as an immediate result.
Like other blessings of the gospel, however, there are special seasons when the Holy Spirit ministers grace more abundantly. Such a season is assured us in the Scriptures at the time of "the latter rain" of spiritual refreshment, in a fullness comparable to and surpassing "the former rain" at Pentecost. Such an outpouring of the Spirit on the people of God on earth is timed to correspond to the final work of blotting out of sins in the heavenly court, but the refreshment does not reach its climax till it culminates in the joy that comes when the fiat goes forth at the close of the investigative judgment, "He that is holy, let him be holy still," and the shout pierces the skies, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us...we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
Peter, in his sermon, has just experienced the great refreshing of the former, or early, rain, and under the influence of the Spirit his mind is carried forward to the still greater refreshment of the latter rain and the second coming of Jesus. He exhorts his hearers to repent unto the blotting out of their sins, that seasons of refreshing may come, that He may send Jesus. This threefold sequel to repentance represents three events that are closely and inseparably tied together just before the fruits of repentance are gathered into the kingdom. They bring the culmination of the plan of salvation and the culminating refreshment of everlasting joy upon the heads of God's people.
In studying a general, unqualified phrase like "times of refreshing," it should be borne in mind that it is applicable in principle to any time when the conditions are met (repentance and conversion in this instance), but that its supreme application should be made when the experience it represents reaches its culmination (in this instance the blotting out of sins and the coming of Jesus).