Harry Pitts argues that forgiveness is just the start. God doesn't just remove guilt, he erases sin from his record and your identity. Many Christians stay trapped in "sin consciousness," feeling guilty even after forgiveness, but true transformation means believing you're a new creation, not a sinner anymore.
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once held over your life. Amen. What the Lord desires to do this morning requires stillness of spirit and openness of heart. For I hear the Spirit of God saying, I do not want you to simply thank me for forgiveness. I want you to live in the power of remission. The last time we gathered in this holy place called sanctuary, the Lord allowed us to step into a truth that challenged years— hear me— challenged years of traditional thinking. We learned that there is a profound difference. Minister Tracey, Minister Ophelia, there's a profound difference Between forgiveness of sins and remission of sins. Forgiveness is God removing the guilt from the sinner. Hear me, but remission is God removing the sin from the record. Forgiveness says, I release you. from the penalty of what you did wrong. It was criminal behavior. It was trespassing. It was indifference. It was wrong. But God says, I remove you from this, from what you did. And I cast it as far as the east is from the west. from the west into the sea of forgetfulness. Those that are watching me, hear me. God has removed what you did wrong. Remission says, I erase what you did. Thank you, Jesus. Ah, that's what remission says. And I remove the stain it left behind. Oh my goodness, I'm about to jump out of my skin right now because I know what I was involved in. Ah, forgiveness deals with the offense. Remission deals with the existence of the offense, that residue, that residual effect that is left. It deals with the existence of the offense. Forgiveness washes the surface. Someone say that with me. Forgiveness washes the surface. Forgiveness washes the surface. Remission cleanses at the root of the problem. It uproots the thing that is trying to hold us in bondage. And we discovered that the apostles did not preach a gospel of forgiveness alone. So we've got to correct years of tradition, and I know many people may wrestle with this, but the bloodstained banner still works. The blood that was poured out and shed on Calvary still works. The apostles, guess what? They preached remission of sins, the obliteration of sins, the control of the enemy being removed. Uh, the enemy is gone. He's extradited out of your life. God said, hit delete. It's over, Satan. You have no authority over them. Uh, when, when that message was declared by these men of God and by many of the women of God, uh, It did not merely— they did not merely believe intellectually. They stepped into newness of life. They didn't have a head knowledge of this. They believed firmly in what Jesus stated. They stepped into this newness of life. Hear me, God never intended his children to merely live forgiven. Forgiven people often love God sincerely, Yes, but still battle with the internal struggles. I don't know about you, just because your title says pastor, apostle, bishop, elder, deacon, whatever your title may be given, there's still that wrestling. Paul said the things I shouldn't do, I still do. Yes, but because of remission, he is the Delivered. Paul was delivered. Yes. Forgiven people know they are saved, Pastor Keith. They know this, yet still feel like something is wrong with them. Forgiven people worship passionately in church, but walk in silent condemnation through the week. And I know that I'm talking to someone. Ah, I, I was there. I was just dealing with an issue from my past recently where the enemy fought me and I was feeling guilty. I remember, uh, the strained relationship with my parents, the strained relationship with my mother. And the Lord said to me, he said, son, that's over with. Yes, you've been forgiven, but that has been removed from your record. Don't allow the enemy to hold you hostage from your past. It's insane to sit there and to know that there are no bullets in the gun, Minister Ophelia. Amen. Amen. No, no bullets in the gun. The enemy is as a roaring lion. Lion, but he has no bite. No bite. Ah, this shadow of the lion has no intimidation. Right. Oh my goodness. Forgiven people worship passionately in church but walk in silent condemnation throughout the week. Forgiven people thank God for the blood but often live as if the blood was not enough. But remitted people, remitted people walk differently. They hold their head up with godly, righteous pride because why? They think differently. Amen. They pray differently. Remitted people do not wake up identifying with who they used to be. They rise in the identity of who Christ has made them to be. Remission does not just change your status before God. Man, I'm trying to hold back. Y'all pray for me. This is, this is so good because, oh my goodness, when you know that you were low down— I'm trying to hold back. Lord, help me. Holy Spirit, help me. Lord, help me. Remission changes your consciousness of yourself. Oh, that, that, that con— that condemnation, that thinking that, man, God can't save me— that's a lie. Uh, the blood of Jesus is more powerful than any sin that you could have committed. Uh, so the assignment this morning is not merely to teach that your sins were erased. That's— the assignment is much greater than that, Pastor Keith. Amen. Man of God, it's much greater than that. Pastor Tracy, it's much greater than this. But to confront, we've got to deal with this. I need you to write this down. If you're listening to me, you need to write this down. This, this series is going to be key. But to confront the mindset that has caused you to live as though, as though you were not born again. We've got to deal with this mindset, with this consciousness, because what, what good is it if God deletes the record but you keep the memory alive in your mind? We've got to deal with this mindset. What good is it if God deletes the record and you still deal with, uh, the issue in your mind? What good is it if heaven no longer sees it, but you continue to rehearse it every single day? Heaven doesn't see it, but you're rehearsing it day in and day out. What good is it If the blood removed the sin, but you still carry the identity of the sinner, salvation is not fully experienced until identity is transformed. Did you hear me? Salvation is not fully experienced until identity is transformed. formed. The Spirit of the Lord impressed upon me— people of God, hear me— that my people know they are forgiven, but they do not know they were— that they are clean. Forgiveness removes the charge, but remission removes the evidence. I need you to write this down. Isaiah chapter 43, Verse 25 declares, I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Let me read that again. This comes from Isaiah chapter 43, verse 25, and it declares I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake. For whose sake? For my own sake. Not your sake. For my own sake. I own— I took inside of me on Calvary the humiliation, the sin that controlled your life, that dominated your life, for my own sake. And I will not remember your sins any longer. So if Jesus does not remember your sins, why do you remember your sins? Amen. I need you to hear the decisiveness of God. God says, I blot it out, I erase it, I remove it. And then he says, I will not remember your sins Not because God forgets, but because once the blood has remitted it, there is nothing left to remember at all. Yet here is the tension: God erased it from the record. Amen. But many believers have not erased it from their identity. God removed it from heaven's courtroom. Stay with me. I'm going a little slow because I need everyone to get this. God removed it from heaven's courtroom, yet some continue to allow it to live in the courtroom of their mind. Amen. God no longer holds it against you. Uh, he didn't hold this against you yet. you still hold it against yourself, self-sabotaging what God is trying to erect in your life, to build up in your life. Yes. But you still hold yourself accountable for things that God has forgiven you for. Oh, God knows about your past. He knows that, but God has removed it. He's blotted it out. We must revisit this truth because remission requires— this is what remission requires— a renewed mind. Yes. Otherwise, the believer will continue living beneath their inheritance. The Spirit of God is saying, I did not only erase your sins, I removed the version of you that committed them. Yes. Mm. That's good. I remove that person. They are dead. They were crucified with Christ. They died with Christ, and they were buried with Christ, and they are risen with Christ, and they are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Ooh, thank you, Lord. So this message this morning, erased— when God deletes your old record and your old mindset, if you receive this word, God will not only establish you in remission, he will begin transforming your consciousness. Thank you, Lord. Because the greatest battle after salvation— hear me— is not sin, contrary to what many preachers teach, contrary to what many believers believe. Uh, your greatest battle, uh, is not sin. Someone say that the greatest battle is not sin. Ah, you've got to realize that God is removing the past because the greatest battle after salvation is not sin. It is— hear me— it is, it is the memory of sin. That's the truth. It is the identity shaped by iniquity. It is the mindset formed that has scratched surfaces and tried to go into the crevices of your mind. Yes, yes. It is the mindset formed by sin, beloved believer. But this morning, God has come with a different mindset. Ah, God has not only come with a different mindset, but he's come for the mindset that exists right now, presently. Many of you, many of you, many of us, you, you love God. We, we love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Amen. You pray, you worship, you repent, you desire to please him with everything that's in you, with your core. You desire to please God, yet a quiet internal struggle still remains. Pastor Keegan, it still remains. It sounds like this: I know God forgave me, but I still feel unclean. I believe I'm saved, but I don't feel worthy. Yes, amen. I've moved on, but part of me still remembers what happened in the past. I know I'm new, but I don't always feel new because of these internal beliefs. Many live as if God tolerated them instead of God transforming them. They believe God daily tolerates them. Hear this carefully. Any area where you still agree with who you used to be is an area where sin consciousness is still alive. Yeah, we talking about it today. We're going to deal with this. We're going to deal. They said elephant in the room. I'm going to say monkey in the room because the devil is a monkey. He's an idiot. He's insane. We're going. We're coming for this sin consciousness this morning, body of Christ. We got to deal with this monkey in the room. Yeah, we we you may want to you may want to they said X that no we're going to say you may want to tweet. that one. God is not condemning you. He's healing you. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 1 through 2 says that if the worshiper were truly purified, they would have no more consciousness of sins. Not meaning they would never sin again, but the internal identity attached to sin would be removed. Under the Old Covenant— oh, we're going there. I heard someone say preachers don't preach from the Old Testament like they used to. Oh no, this church we do. We preach the whole counsel of God. Amen. Under the Old Covenant, we stay with the book. We got to stay with the book. We got to stay with the Bible. That's the safest place for 5:14. Grace Church. Look us up. 514 Grace Church. We stay with the Bible. I'm— we're not looking for popularity. We're looking for the word of God, the revelation of God found in this Bible. Hear me. Under the Old Covenant, sin was covered, but sin consciousness— sin consciousness. If you're watching me, listen to me. But sin consciousness remained. Under the New Covenant, sin is cleansed and the consciousness of it is removed. Let me say that again. Under the Old Covenant, sin was covered, but sin consciousness remained. Under the New Covenant, sin is cleansed and the consciousness of it is removed. Let me hasten. I've got to really deal with this. Sin consciousness is when a believer— write this down, you need to get this. This lesson is going to change your life forever. Sin consciousness is when a believer sees themselves More through the lens of their past than through the finished work of Christ. It shows up as ongoing guilt after repentance, difficulty receiving God's love, feeling spiritually inadequate. These are all the mischievous games the enemy plays us. Believing that you're spiritually inadequate, that you're not smart enough. I don't know the word of God the way he knows the word of God. I don't know the word of God the way she knows the word of God. Don't let the enemy play musical chairs in your mind. This is sin consciousness. You got to call it out or you're repeatedly rehearsing who you used to be. when you were in the world. Sin consciousness is when the enemy no longer needs to accuse you. You know why? Sin consciousness is when the enemy no longer needs to accuse you. Hear me, because your mind accuses you. Wow. The residue that's left over. He said, oh, I got that one. Because we know they are still dealing with the consciousness of sin, because their mind will always bring accusation after accusation against them. Amen. Sin consciousness is not humility. I'm sorry, it is not. It's not humility, it's not holiness or reverence. Sin consciousness is a stronghold that keeps believers from agreeing with what the blood accomplished. If you still see yourself as the person who sinned, you will still continue living as the person Christ already crucified. Hear me. There are 2 courts. There are 2 courts. The court of heaven, where the record is erased, deleted, and expunged. The second court is the court of your mind, where the enemy tries to re-present, re-present. Represent. the evidence again and again and again and again. Amen. Daily, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, by the second, by the minute, and by the hour, he tries to re-present This to you constantly. Satan has no legal right to accuse you of what no longer exists. There is no evidence. How can you be found guilty when there are no charges? Whoo! There's nothing. There's no evidence. So why do you allow your mind to hold you hostage for something that you've never done? This is why the Apostle Paul said that he's wronged no man. Even though Paul was a mass murderer, Paul said, I wronged no man, because he understood, ah, the blood of Christ, the remission of sins, the consciousness that will try to control your life. See? Paul said, I wronged no man. What? Amen. I did nothing wrong. Don't allow this second court, the court of your mind, to dictate what happens and what changes. Satan has no legal right to accuse you of what no longer exists, Minister Ophelia. Woman of God, he can't. He can't condemn me anymore. Now, now I'll be the. I'll be the first to tell. Oh, I did some things that were not pleasing to God, but those things are over with. I'm a new creature. I'm a new creation. When condemnation speaks, it speaks with forged, forged, fake, phony documents. When condemnation speaks, it speaks with fraudulent information. It comes forth and it tries, and the travesty of it is that condemnation is so insane that it tries to bend lies. It will try to take a lie and make a better lie. Comes forth in the court of heaven with these forged, fake, false documents, false evidence, lies. Ah, condemnation tries to build a case in heaven, and guess what heaven says? There is no evidence. The case is dismissed. Amen. The issue is not whether God erases your record. Hear me, let me pause right there parenthetically. The issue is not whether God erases your record. record, but whether your mind will delete the evidence. Amen. Your mind has got to delete the evidence. You repented already. God forgave you. He cleansed you, but you have not released it yet yourself. You are harder on yourself than God will ever be harder on you. This morning, the Holy Spirit removes the burden of self-accusation. Ah, the Holy Spirit removes this burden. If you're watching me, the Holy Spirit is taking away this self-accusation, this self-condemnation. This voice of shame is not the voice of God in your life. If the blood was strong enough for God to erase it, It is strong enough for you to stop reliving it. Ah, let me say that again. Boy, that felt good saying that. I, I, I need to— I've got to say that again, not for y'all, but for me. I got to preach to myself on this one. So y'all just give me— this is one moment I got to have 3 seconds to be selfish. Ah, if the blood was strong enough, Harry, For God to erase it. Oh my goodness, it is strong enough, Harry, for you to stop reliving it. Ah, we've got to stop reliving this. If remission is real, you must stop approaching God as a forgiven sinner and begin approaching him as a cleansed son or daughter. Uh-huh. Forgiveness changed your status. Remission changed your nature. Forgiveness dealt with what you did. Remission dealt with who you were. Now the only battle left is in your mind. Oh, give God a hand clap of praise. Yes. As I hasten to a close, now that the Spirit of God has exposed the inner conflict between what heaven has erased and what the mind remembers, we must now confront the question that sits at the heart of transformation. If God erased who I am, if God erased who I was, if God then removed this old man, this old fallen nature, then who am I now? Because when an old identity is deleted, when an old identity is removed, when an old identity doesn't exist, a new identity must be installed, or the mind will return to what is familiar. That's right. Even if that familiarity is bondage. There's a principle you must understand. Freedom requires identity, man of God. If you do not know who you are, woman of God, hear me. If you do not know who you are in Christ, you will return to who you were in sin. That's right. When the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, Egypt was removed from their location demographically, but Egypt was not removed from their mentality. They were free geographically but not free internally. That is why God did not simply bring Israel out. He had to teach them who they were now. Publicly and privately, so that they were no longer slaves to sin, slaves to the Egyptians. In the same way, remission brings you out of sin, but your mind must be taught who you are now, that you are no longer guilty, condemned or defiled. Devil, we coming for you. We coming for sin consciousness. Amen. Family, I need you to share this word all over the globe, that sin consciousness is not the way of God. Hear this: grace is not fully experienced until your identity aligns with what Christ accomplished. Your greatest warfare now is not with demons. You, you wrestling with demons? Oh, they, they are irrelevant. They're not important. That's not your greatest warfare. It's not with demons, not with your past, also not with people. Amen. I, I know you think folks trying to give you a hard time. No, that's not your— that's not your greatest warfare, but With the outdated— write it down— but with the outdated version of yourself that your mind has not yet let go. That's your greatest warfare. The man in the mirror, the woman in the mirror. You're dealing with this outdated version. Hear me, that's watching. You're dealing with an outdated version of who you used Yes. Yes. I'm going to close on this point. Let it go. Let that version of yourself go. He is crucified, dead, buried. He no longer exists. He has been deleted. To be honest with you, he's irrelevant, unimportant. He doesn't mean anything. He's irrelevant. Doesn't matter. But when God erased your record, he did not leave— he did not leave you your— let me say this. Let me pause right here. Thank you, Lord. I'll say it, Spirit of God. When God erased your record, he did not leave you identity. He did not leave your identity empty. Thank you, Holy Spirit. He did not leave a void in your life. You listening? Amen. The enemy wants you to believe that you are a forgiven version of who you were. He wants you to believe that. But God did not upgrade. He didn't improve. He didn't supersize your old version, but God did not upgrade the old you. No, he did not. And I'm gonna close on this note. Guess what he did with him? Hear me, that are watching. God didn't give you a much improved old version. You know what he did with him? I'm glad you asked. He crucified the old you. He's dead. He doesn't exist. He did not improve the old nature. He replaced it with the nature of Christ. Write this down. We're going to close on this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 declares, therefore, hear me, hear this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 declares, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This verse is not poetic language. It is legal identity. It is a legal identity transfer. The old you is not being rehabilitated. The old you is dead. He's crucified. A new you has been born. A new creation. You are a new species of human being. Oh yes! Oh my goodness! We we're gonna really dive into this. And for those of you that's struggling right now, we we got the cure. We have the Yes. Panacea to all your ills. It is found in the new creation, the new, the new you, the, the version that God has deposited in you, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. You can bow your heads in prayer. Father, we thank you this morning for Jesus, who is the captain of our souls. Jesus, we thank you. We adore you. We magnify you. We lift your name. Thank you, God, that we are no longer rehearsing in our consciousness the things that are now dead. We have a new creation. We are a new species of believer. We are a new Amen. We are new in Christ. Therefore, sin has no dominance or control over our lives. God, we trust you with everything that is in us. We are delivered. God, I thank you for breaking the yoke of sin and judgment and and the debauchery of the sinful nature off of our lives. God, that we can now glorify you in the beauty of holiness. We thank you for everything that you've done in our lives. Every member of 514 Grace Church, every child of 514 Grace Church, we thank you for every Amen. Leader, every minister, every elder, every deacon, every pastor. Ah, God, we thank you, God, in the name of Jesus, for elevating us, that we're not controlled by this sin any longer. We say that we are a new creation, and Father God, we accept it right now we accept it. We, we are joyous over this new creation that you've made us to be. And God, we are so grateful and thankful for the blood of Jesus, for the redemption of our souls, for the remission, for eradicating what controlled us. Amen. And God, removing this sin consciousness that Tries to hold us captive. It is now removed. You say in Romans, God, chapter 12, Father God, be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. God, you even go further to tell us what we need to think on. God, this old mindset is gone. We are delivered from self. And thank you that we have the mind of Christ. Christ Jesus is resident in every single one of us. And Father, we'll be so careful to give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. In Jesus' name we pray. And everyone shout amen. Amen.
