FORGIVENESS
– BOTH ONCE-FOR-ALL AND DAILY
Here is a
John 3:16 kind of verse: "Of Him (JESUS) all the prophets bear witness
that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of
sins” (Acts 10:43).
FORGIVENESS
by God is readily available. He gives it freely but it is not cheap. It cost
God the Father His Son and His excruciating death on the cross. T. De Witt
Talmage once penned: “Release! Signed in tears, sealed in blood, written on
heavenly parchment, recorded in eternal archives. The black ink of the
indictment is written all over with the red ink of the cross: ‘The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.’”
Believing
in Jesus brings a sinner God's overall judicial forgiveness. Such a believing
sinner is at once freed from all guilt and penalty of sin. By "all" means all past, present and future sin! The slate is cleared. God the Judge declares him
forgiven. He is thereby justified. "Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through
Him" (Romans 5:9). A truly justified sinner, having believed in Jesus
Christ as personal Lord and Savior, is forever freed from God’s law of sin and
death. The Word of God says so: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2). This judicial forgiveness is a constant and in no way contingent upon daily behavior.
And
so, the believer rests in this truth, as stated later in this same chapter: “But
in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I
am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
But this
needs to be pressed further. For Christians, remembering the gruesome
price Jesus paid for them should keep them from sinning freely or in a carefree
way. This moves us from positional truth (what we possess IN Christ) to every-day
or practical truth (what we daily have BY Christ). The God who saves sinners once-for-all
desires that when living our lives we eschew evil and confess it day by day and
receive forgiveness. When we say this is carried out BY Christ we mean He gives
us freely all things pertaining to life and godliness. Though judicially forgiven
once-for-all at the point of initial salvation (when the sinner accepts Jesus
as personal Lord and Savior), Christ's agonizing death should lead believers on
a daily basis (or practically speaking) to crucify the
flesh (old nature) and the lusts thereof. This is an ongoing experience, a variable and not a constant, and has
in view God, not as Judge, but as Father.
The Judge was rendered satisfied at
the point of initial belief in Christ. The Scriptures are clear about this. The
Apostle John declares: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Glorious truth!
But, day by day the sensitive Christian desires to be close to
Him as Father. And so daily confession and forgiveness are necessary (John
1:9). Experientially His wisdom dictates that evil be detested in an ongoing
and growing way. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil..." (Proverbs
8:13). And so, we are instructed to take up our cross and crucify the
sinful urges that arise from one's inner self. Put them to death! While
suppressing the inner proclivities we also fight against external
solicitations. We must say NO to the world’s encroachments. “Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world.”
This ongoing experience is costly.
It hurts! Listen to Scripture: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in
the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has
suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin..." (1 Peter 4:1). Jesus clearly
said, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of
Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My
sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39). A cross is an instrument of great pain.
Fighting the good fight requires a willingness to suffer for the One who
suffered for me.
And so,
the sincere believer in Christ talks to himself saying:
I am
saved by God’s grace. He has redeemed me, yea, and also justified me. He
declared me righteous through the blood of His Son. In the courtroom of heaven
I stand a forgiven sinner, having been justified and completely forgiven all my
sin, past, present and future. The Judge, Almighty and Holy God, is satisfied
that through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, justice for me has
been procured. Amen! I do believe in Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. What
a load of guilt is lifted. I leave His courtroom a fully pardoned sinner. There
is no further penalty to be paid. I’m free! I need now to sing Charles
Gabriel’s MY SAVIOR’S LOVE:
He took my sins and my sorrows;
He made them His very own.
He bore the burden to Cal-v’ry
And suffered and died alone.
How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be…..
But now,
given such love, I must ever please my Heavenly Father. He as Judge has forever
been rendered satisfied, but now, viewing Him as my Father, I want Him to draw
me close, to hold me near to His heart, to be well pleased with all my
thoughts, words and doings, to make me His much loved child. I must remember
Jesus’ Words. He said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one
who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love
him and will disclose Myself to him” (John 14:21). How do I express my love for
Him? By keeping His commandments. How am I a member of God’s Insider Club (not
that all His children aren’t loved. Of course they are!)? By obediently obeying
His Son the Father responds by saying, “I will love him and will disclose My-self
to him.” What is this special disclosure? I want it! I want to be godly. I want
intimate insights into God’s Word, the Bible. I want the Spirit unquenched and
not grieved to let me see and enjoy God as never before. I greatly desire to
walk with Him and talk with Him and to have Him reassure me that, yes, I am His
own. What comfort! What joy! What blessed assurance!
I now understand the
Apostle John’s words when he said, “Little children, let us not love with word
or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the
truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us;
for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart
does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we
receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are
pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:18-22).
Certainly,
this is a so-great salvation provided by God’s grace and indescribable love. He
satisfies Himself judicially. He is the uncompromising Judge. But, at the same
time, He makes full provision for the believer to find comfort and deep
emotional satisfaction walking day by day with His dear Heavenly Father.
Once a
small boy threw a baseball and broke a neighbor’s window. The little one shied
as the neighbor burst out in a fury of anger. He ran to his dad and explained
what happened. The daddy went to bat for his son. He went to the neighbor’s
house, rapped on the door and, to a still seething man, gingerly opened the
discussion. The father did two things: First, he offered to pay for the broken
window. In fact, he said he would repair it himself. He would do so at once.
Then, he talked kindly about his son and asked for understanding for the
youngster. The boy confessed his wrong. At once the seething disappeared,
forgiveness was granted and the once offended man even offered a ready hug for
the lad. Notice this: The offense tangibly was taken care of. The dad offered
to pay and fix the window. And, on a personal level, communication was opened,
forgiveness sought and granted and emotions of satisfaction flowed.
Even so,
when a sinner comes to an offended God, a thrice-holy God who hates sin, the
appeal to a go-between is of utmost importance. Jesus Christ is just such a
mediator. Because he paid for a sinners sin, His blood ever pleads before the
Father for making things right. The Scriptures state: “For there is one God,
and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time” (1
Timothy 2:5-6). And again, Jesus everlastingly serves as the Christian’s
advocate, or defense attorney. On this truth hear the Word of the Lord: “And if
anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1
John 2:1). The “advocate” is one called in to help, like an attorney hired to
plead the case. Jesus freely, by grace, does this forever for the believing
sinner. So, when saved, the sinner has a MEDIATOR by whom once-for-all
forgiveness is gained. He also has an ADVOCATE whereby in an ongoing fashion
Jesus pleads in our behalf, pleads His own payment for our sin, and, on the
basis of both roles, saved sinners are free and ever FORGIVEN.
“But if
we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the
Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us
cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and
lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us
[does not dwell in our hearts].
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful
and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins
[dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all
unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought,
and action]” (1 John 1:7-9).
Do make special note how ‘forgiveness’ is intermingled with the atoning work of Jesus Christ. There can be no forgiveness by a Holy God apart from His being assuaged by blood sacrifice. Geoffrey Wilson says, “The Bible knows nothing of mere pardon. There can be no pardon except on the ground of satisfaction of justice.” And Oswald Chambers clearly states, “It is shallow nonsense to say God forgives us because He is love. The only ground upon which God can forgive us is the cross.” Let us sing with P.P. Bliss:
“Man of sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Guilty, vile and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! Can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Dr. Dick Christen
