Does God Exaggerate?

"for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 NIV

"...death came to all men, because all sinned-" Romans 5:12 NIV

"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God" Hebrews 10:12 NIV

"Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26 NIV

Not sure what started me thinking today but I remembered my brother telling me something to the effect that there was no "unforgiven" sin in the world. It may have been stronger than I remember and he may have said there is no longer any sin. Then, again, I may simply be out of my mind and if so, this is simply my current thinking which needs further evaluation as I look to grow spiritually.

One of the verses above says that Christ offered his sacrifice to forgive all sin and then sat down at the right hand of God. Another says to do away with sin after appearing once for all.

I know I am often speaking before thinking but my current belief system is one believing my sin as a Christian is forgiven even if I fail to "officially" ask for the forgiveness. If I was driving down the road speeding to get to Abilene this past Saturday morning and running off the road I killed myself (actually my wife was the one "officially" reminded to drive the speed limit), I do not think I would be condemned for speeding and breaking the law. My family will be my best defense if I ever get a ticket for speeding because I usually drive below the speed limit. Just for the sake of this blog, however, God probably already knew I would be speeding if it is truly the case and I believe the sacrifice of Christ would have already forgiven the sin.

Is this the case? Has all sin been forgiven? The bible seems to say this and yet it is not something I hear regularly taught by other Christians. In fact, I usually hear the opposite and many would have me perish due to the sin I commit later today or even tomorrow and fail to make the "official" request for forgiveness. I can't help but wonder if the Holy Spirit (God) was exaggerating when giving the words in the writing above or is it possible, even likely (like so many other things) my understanding is skewed by human reasoning impressed upon me as a child.

While I never gave as much attention to my writing in school as I now wish might have been the case, I seem to remember the concept of returning to what you started with as you wind things down and prepare to make a conclusion on your thoughts. The first quote above has to do with all have sinned and fallen short and in 53 years of life, I have probably not gone two weeks (while involved with a church congregation) without hearing this phrase used and yet I am not sure I actually know anyone who believes this statement the way I read. If the statement is accurate, then all have sinned. Using the "official" thinking I was brought up with, "how hard can it be to see what is actually said. Anyone with a brain can see it says all and all means EVERYBODY!"

Almost in the same breath, I can hear someone saying, "and the wages of sin is death" (most don't believe this either). I guess I could be accused of starting controversies like Timothy was warned about in the letter from Paul but if you want to see some people squirm over the discussion of all just bring up the "unforgiven" sin of a child or mentally handicapped person. Suddenly, I/you are faced with the non-biblical teaching of some not being accountable for their sin (if they even believe these individuals have sinned). Being faced with challenges like this one has helped me move past the idea of needing an answer for everything.

I continue to desire answers and wanting these questions answered from a biblical position, the idea of no one being accountable for his/her sin is much more reasonable than some of us being accountable and some sins being condemning in nature because we fail to "officially" ask for forgiveness. Of course, this brings up another question of what actually separates us from God at judgment. If we are not faced with our condemning sin, how can any be lost?

Just my opinion (like everything else) but I currently think it is the choice we make to be like God. The choice, to have the loving heart (nature) of a child. Then again, it may not be the nature of a child but rather the nature of God ever so present in the child when Jesus told us of those who would inherit the kingdom!