What God’s
Word says about …
I just wanted to take
some time this morning to jot down a few thoughts, quote some scripture and recap some of the discussion I’ve had recently
in a small group setting. The idea of any small group, or this column for that matter, is to be able to delve into the very
Word of God, dig through the language and context, discover the meaning of the verses, why they were written, whom they were
written to, to check for any current application, etc.
If we can’t
be vulnerable among ourselves, how can we expect to be of any use as witnesses to the world?
I hope that you all are learning as much as I am. Each and every time
I prepare a lesson, I learn new things, am once again turned on by the wonder of the Word as I see it apply on every page
to me and to my loved ones. I am continuously amazed by His mercy and grace as
I see it made apparent in me and in you.
Grace, what a wonderful
word, often quoted and claimed, yet too often misunderstood and misused. Literally
it means, “God’s unmerited favor towards us.” God, in the fullness
of His unconditional love and in the midst of our unending sin, gives us the very thing we don’t deserve, unconditional
and unearned forgiveness. More than that, He gives to us the promise of eternal
life with Him. In all of our discussions, we keep bringing the “I”
factor into them. It’s not about us, never has been, and never will be. Our God is a forgiving God toward all who are His.
As a Christian, your sins are all forgiven.
Steve McVey says it this way; “ Forgiveness is the deliberate choice to release a person from all
obligation he has toward us as a result of any offense he may have committed against us.
God’s decision to forgive you began with a choice, and then was expressed through His own loving nature. You did nothing to deserve to be forgiven. He simply chose to forgive you. The choice was motivated by His character, not yours.”
He goes on to say, “ We
owe God nothing for our sin. He chose to carry the weight of our offense
against Him to the cross, and to release us from all obligations toward Him. Jesus
satisfied God’s demand for justice to be carried out, and the Father has chosen to totally release you from all
debt to Him. You will never deserve God’s forgiveness; you simply need
to receive it and then walk in it!”
You see, it’s
all about Him! He loves you that much that He forgave every sin, past,
present and future. On the cross, Jesus cried out, “
It is finished!” What was finished? The very work His Father asked Him to do; To sacrifice Himself for our sins, nail those sins to the cross,
to wash each and every one of them in His own precious blood and to never see them again.
We stand now before the Father in complete forgiveness, spotless, holy and blameless, saints and co-inheritors of all
that is Christ’s.
We spoke of the Lord’s
Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-15), in which Jesus says, “...And forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors.” Later in vs. 14 & 15 He says, “ For if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Is He saying that your
sins won’t be forgiven if you don’t forgive? If so, that negates
all that the cross stood for. How many sins were forgiven on that cross? Every sin from all mankind was erased that day. Some to appropriate that forgiveness through belief in the Savior, most to reject this most wonderful of
all gifts.
When Jesus talked about forgiveness in Verses 14 & 15, He lived under and obeyed the covenant of the
Law. Yet if we look closely, all that He did He did in grace. The Harlot who was to be stoned deserved to die under the Law, yet Jesus forgave her with unconditional
loving compassion and grace. The thief on the cross deserved to die for his sins,
yet Jesus, in the midst of bearing all of our sins and suffering under the agony and burden of their weight, chose to forgive
him in grace.
John McArthur says in his commentary, “ Scripture teaches that God chastens His children who disobey (Heb.12:
5-7). Believers are to confess their sins in order to obtain a day-to-day cleansing
(1 John 1:9). This sort of forgiveness is a simple washing from the worldly defilements
of sin; not a repeat of the wholesale cleansing from sin’s corruption that come from justification. It’s like washing of the feet rather than a bath. Forgiveness
in this later sense is what God threatens to withhold from Christians who refuse to forgive others.” Make sense?
What else does Scripture
say? Romans 8:1 states, “ There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Hear that? NO CONDEMNATION! Our current verse, John 5:24, “ I tell
you the truth, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned: he has crossed
over from death to life.” This verse is so beautiful! It’s all here! Who is talking? Jesus, God Himself, the Creator of all things!
What does He say? “ I tell you the truth…” He doesn’t say, this is a parable, this is a story,
maybe this will take place, or that if you are really, really good and don’t sin, you might get into heaven. No! “This is
the truth, that “whoever hears My Word and believes
Him who sent Me has (what?) - Eternal
life…” Hears and believes, period! Nothing added,
no other requirements.
What is His Word? Up until that time there was no New Testament,
only the Old so He couldn’t have meant the “Bible” as we know it.
His Word was simply that, His Word. And His word stated that whoever believed
in Him, the Messiah, and in Who sent Him, the Father, would have (what?) - eternal life.
He continues to say that there will be no condemnation for these; not there might be, there
may be if you don’t do thus and such or there will be if you don’t obey each and every law and each and every
man made rule there ever was. There are plenty of those. I’ve probably broken each one of them, much to my shame. But
He doesn’t and won’t ever hold it against me.
Colossians 2:11-14, “ when you came to Christ, you were “circumcised”, but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure – the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ
from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because you’re sinful
nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all your sins. He canceled the record that
contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to
Christ’s cross.” This is what it means when Christ says
that you have crossed over from death to life. You are a new person in
Christ, saints not sinners.
Lastly, about
assurance, as if the preceding wasn’t enough; Ephesians 1: 13,14 states,
“ In Him you also trusted after you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;
in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory”.
Your salvation was sealed at the moment you trusted and believed
in Christ as your Lord and Savior; sealed by the Holy Spirit, God Himself. God
Himself guarantees your inheritance of every thing that belongs to Jesus. What
is the “ redemption of the purchased possession?” Us! Jesus paid the price for us, you and me, on that
cross. The price was His death; His purchase, our eternal life and all that goes
with it. For it is more than just living forever.
It is being with God in glory and splendor, worshiping Him along with all the other saints and angels, apostles, martyrs
– living in joy beyond comprehension, our new glorified bodies free from pain, death and sin. I’m so glad that we are going there together. Even so,
come Lord Jesus!
Thanks for bearing
with me through this. There is so much more to say. Guess we’ll just have to save it for another session. If
there are any doubts or questions, please, please ask and don’t be afraid to express anything, any concerns, whatever. It’s not about me, what I know or what anyone thinks or believes, it’s
about what the Word of God says.
I love you all in Christ,
Rev. Steve
