Why do I still fear the coming of the Lord? I have asked for forgiveness for my sins and repented. Am I doing something wrong?
As we shall see, the “believer in Christ” should have no fear whatsoever regarding the coming of the Lord. Before we show you scriptures to prove that, let me ask you a very important question, “Have you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior?” You said you “have asked for forgiveness for my sins and repented” but that is NOT the same as believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. I want to quote two passages (from the NKJV) where the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul were proclaiming the good news of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
“To Him (Jesus Christ) all the prophets witness that, THROUGH HIS NAME, whoever BELIEVES IN HIM will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).
“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that THROUGH THIS MAN is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).
As you can see, Peter and Paul preached the same good news; that one can receive “forgiveness of sins” by “believing in Jesus Christ.” They say nothing about “asking for forgiveness,” for one is not saved by PRAYING a certain prayer. Rather, they pointed the sinner to Jesus Christ and assured them if they were to “believe in Him” they would “receive forgiveness of sins.” Peter emphasized that it was “through His name,” meaning that we must “believe in the name of Jesus to be forgiven.” What does that mean? We have the answer in John 1:12 which says, “But as many as received Him (Jesus Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIS NAME.” To “believe in His name” is to believe that HE IS THE SAVIOR! When Christ was born Joseph was told by an angel, “And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall CALL HIS NAME JESUS, for HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus means SAVIOR! To believe on Him is to believe “He is YOUR SAVIOR,” the one who died on the cross for your sins so you could be forgiven of those sins. Paul emphasized that it was “through this Man,” for the Son of God willingly became A MAN to take man’s place on the cross in order to bear their sins and the judgment due to those sins. To be forgiven of our sins we must believe that truth. We see that truth in 1st Timothy 2:3-6, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” The very moment we believe this we can say, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1st Peter 2:24).
After one is saved and has the forgiveness of sins, the Bible teaches them that they will never be judged for those sins (see John 5:24 and Romans 8:1). God sees the believer in all the value of His Son’s work on the cross. This is brought out beautifully in 1st John 4:17, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that WE MAY HAVE BOLDNESS IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT; BECAUSE AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.” This simply means that we need not fear the coming day of judgment for just as Jesus has gone through God’s judgment on the cross and is now seated at His right hand in heaven, so the believer is seen “in Christ” with their sins already having been judged in Christ’s death. The judgment of God is behind Christ and thus the judgment of God is behind each believer. In light of this truth the believer should NEVER FEAR THE COMING OF CHRIST and the judgment He will bring to this ungodly world. Verse 18 goes on to say, “There is NO FEAR IN LOVE; but PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUR FEAR, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” God’s love, which caused Him to send His Son to the cross to bear our sins (see verses 9-10), cancels out fear! (444.3) (DO)