Does Jesus forgive all sins?  The answer is both yes, and no. Jesus forgives all the sins of those who trust in Him, but He does not forgive all the sins of those who don’t.  Furthermore, Jesus does not forgive the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Nor did He forgive the sins of Eli’s house.

“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come,” (Matt. 12:32).

“Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever,” (1 Sam. 3:14).

What about when a Christian sins after being saved?  Are his sins forgiven, then? Yes, all sins of Christians are forgiven, even those committed after becoming a Christian.

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,” (Col. 2:13).

The Bible says that Jesus has forgiven us all our transgressions. That is, for those who trust in Christ. It cannot be that all the unbelievers’ transgressions are forgiven because that would mean they could not go to hell. After all, how could they go to hell if their sins are forgiven? But, since people are damned, we know their sins are not forgiven.

“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life,” (Matt. 25:46).

“And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name,” (Rev. 14:11).

What about someone who loses salvation?

Let’s say there was a person who becomes a Christian but loses his salvation.¹CARM affirms that we cannot lose salvation.  Did Jesus then forgive him of all sins?   Our sins are all future to Jesus who died 2000 years ago and bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). So, if Jesus is to save someone, all of that person’s sins must be forgiven, not just some. So, how could He save someone who goes to hell if it means that Jesus did not bear all his sins?

person is unsaved →	person is saved →	person loses salvation →	damnation
all sins not forgiven	all sins forgiven	all sins not forgiven

 

How can someone be saved with all his sins forgiven and also not forgiven?  It makes no sense.

But some might say that Jesus only bore the sins of the person up to a point and that it is up to the person to be good enough to not sin And if he does,  he must confess his sins in order to be forgiven. But the problem with this means that such a  person’s salvation is dependent upon his confession. What if he forgets to confess the sin? What if he doesn’t know he’s committed a sin and doesn’t confess it? The problem goes on and on.

So, in conclusion, Jesus does not forgive all people of all of their sins. He only forgives the sins of those who trust in Him.