Forgiveness, Divine
Notes
Transcript
Handout
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Central Idea/ Thesis:
God forgives the sins of believers on the basis of the once for all sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the cross. Believers’ sins are no longer held against them, on account of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Introduction:
God’s nature and forgiveness
God’s nature and forgiveness
let’s begin by noticed something about God’s nature where forgiveness is concerned.
Even thou God is merciful; gracious; loving and faithful
God still holds the guilty responsible for their sins...
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
See also Nu 14:17–20; Ne 9:16–17; Ps 103:1–18; Is 43:25; Mic 7:18–20; 1 Jn 1:8–9
[The God of scripture has promised forgiveness for all of the old testament times…]
God’s promise of forgiveness
God’s promise of forgiveness
Our creator did more than promise, He established a covenant with that promise...
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
See also 2 Ch 7:14; Is 55:6–7; Heb 8:8–12
[We should also understand that it is not God who needs forgiveness, it is mankind that needs it…]
People’s need of forgiveness
People’s need of forgiveness
David certainly recognized his own fallen nature...
See also Ps 51:1–5; Is 6:1–5; Ro 3:9; Ro 3:23
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
[God’s word is very clear that man needs saving and he cannot do it himself…]
The means of forgiveness
The means of forgiveness
Under the old covenant
Under the old covenant
This is a shadow of things to come;
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
See also Le 4:27–31; Le 5:17–18
a like figure where unto we see fullfilled in that new covenant that Jeremiah wrote about...
Under the new covenant
Under the new covenant
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
See also Jn 1:29; Eph 1:7–8; Col 2:13–15
It is Jesus who established that covenant
He shed His blood
That’s what the old covenant was pointing to
a sacrifice for all eternity
that only needed to be done once for all
[This forgiveness is assured ant not fleeting…]
The assurance of forgiveness
The assurance of forgiveness
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
See also Ps 51:7; Ps 103:8–12; Ps 130:3–4; Pr 28:13; Is 1:18; Ac 2:38; Jas 5:13–16; 1 Jn 2:1–2
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Conclusion:
God’s nature is such that He forgives the sins of believers on the basis of the once for all sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the cross.
He still holds the guilty responsible for their sins, that is why a sacrifice is necessary, because we are all guilty.
Salvation is when sins are no longer held against you, on account of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Agreement with that atoning death happens by faith.
That faith is then lived out and expressed in covenant with God.
Do you want your sins forgiven???
Invitation: