25) The Blessing of Forgiveness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Pastoral Reminder: Head Heart Hands
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness. 6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.
Today if you were to go out and people on the street what that Gospel of Jesus Christ is, we would expect to hear many different answers. It would not surprise us that many wouldn’t have a clue what we are talking about. Washington is one of the least religious area in the country. So we would expect there to me many that would not know much if anything about the Gospel. But you would be also surprised by the different answers you would hear in the church as well. It is something we must understand deeper and deeper for in it is the power of salvation for everyone who believes.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
Paul wants everyone to hear the message that God has given him but he will not compromise on the truth of the message. He will not be unfaithful to the message of reconciliation that has been given to him.
He is answering the question of how a person is justified or saved before the holy God.
There are two sides to this question that Paul addresses here. The first is that a person must be found righteous before the Lord. The Jews saw Abraham’s obedience to God as the reason that he was righteous. Obedience was in his character so he was justified before God by his works. Paul contradicted this by using the scripture to shown how Abraham was credited righteousness from his belief by his faith not by his works.
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.
A credit is given to the one who didn’t work. It is a gift not something owed.
4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
The Jews are being shown that they have an incorrect view of how a person is right before God. Like today many believe they must work hard, be good, be kind, generous, sacrificial, go to church, pray, read your bible and the list goes on and on. It is not the works that lead to righteousness, it is by faith or belief that a person is credited with righteousness. The work of Abraham, his faithful obedience was a product of his trust and faith in God.
The statement that God justifies the ungodly would have been another tough pill to swallow. They have grown up knowing the passages like.
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just — both are detestable to the Lord.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent” — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
This is the perceived contradiction that people struggle with. If God is good and has said he will not acquit the guilty then how can our works not be part of the equation. If God detests those that let the guilty go unpunished then my works matter. But Paul is arguing against that. In their minds, they are thinking that the ungodly have sinned against God, they have been charged and are guilty so they must do the work that must be done to pay for those sin. They must receive forgiveness the correct way. But Paul says they receive forgiveness by belief. To answer this he turns to David.
Sacrificial System
Sacrificial System
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.
Likewise: Just as, or exactly as. He says when you read the penitent Psalm of David where he speaks of the blessing of forgiveness from God is received not by works of worship but to those credited with righteousness. When we turn to the old testament there is much detail given to the way in which an Israelite must deal with his own sin for atonement in order to receive forgiveness.
3 But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year.
Year after year, month after month, day after day the priests would oversee the sacrifices that were to be the reminder of the people of their sins against God. The constant sheading of blood of animals as sin and guilt offerings before the Lord. The sacrifices were to be a place that people were to put their trust in the promises of God. But instead the Jews turned it into a system of the bare minimum.
8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies.
They would come to a place where they would go through the motions and were even bringing sacrifices to God that the governor would not even accept as a tax. They were to bring spotless and unblemished sacrifices in honor and glory to God but instead they used the sacrifices as a way to get rid of unwanted and undesirable animals from their flocks.
This was the process of atonement that was required for forgiveness of sin. Paul takes the results of the sacrificial system which is forgiveness and connects it to the person that God credits righteousness apart from works.
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.
This verse Paul Quotes in Romans is from Psalm 32. It is a penitent Psalm. a Psalm or sorrow and repentance.
1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!
The key words here are transgression, sin, and iniquity. of which are forgiven, covered, and charge.
Paul summarizes these into lawless acts or lawlessness. All of the ways that a person can be charged with violating of the law and standard of God. All of the ways they incur the debt of sin, what is earned.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
To be forgiven is to have a debt or charge against an account that is absolved and wiped out, removed from the person’s ledger. To cover it over as if it wasn’t there, wiped out from the sight of the judge. Never to be charged to their account.
David’s Sin
David’s Sin
Abraham’s obedience was highly exalted in the minds of the Jews and they had come to see Abraham’s works that the reason that he was chosen to make his covenant with. To deepen the argument that it isn’t behavior or works that God seeks. We look at David who is described as a man after God’s own heart. But also a man that had his worst sins exposed for all to see and for them to be recorded in God’s word. The context of his Psalm is the aftermath of his lawlessness in 2 Samuel.
David had failed to go to war where kings were to be.
1 In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
David remained behind at home as his army went out to war. Instead of being where God had called him to be he chose to do his own thing. Stay home. In his idleness, he finds that it is easy to follow temptation that leads to sin. He commits adulty with Bathsheba, attempts to deceive Uriah her husband, but when he doesn't fall for it, David has him murdered in out on the battle field. He is more or less blind to the severity of his actions before the Lord until a faithful God fearing man, Nathan, tells him a parable about a rich man with many lambs who takes the only lamb of a poor man to feed a traveler. David’s response
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”
David hears the parable of the wickedness and proclaims that he must die or pay retribution.
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.
What more could God have provided as a blessing for David. And God said that he would have given more but instead you take what has not been given to you.
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.
In response to his realization of his sin he would write Psalm 32 and Psalm 51.
For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. 1 Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. 2 Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge. 5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. 10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God— God of my salvation— and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God. 18 In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
David knows that all sin that he commits is first a sin against God. For all sin against others is a moment where a person is not acting in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. It is the one with a humble and contrite heart that is forgiven by the Lord.
David’s Blessing
David’s Blessing
Paul is highlighting this idea of an account of a person. That God credits righteousness by faith and God does not count the sins of those who have faith. Sins are forgiven means that they have been abolished. They will never be counted to the persons account.
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.
Paul is bringing the blessing of the forgiveness of sin and linking to the faith that credits righteousness. That being forgiveness is not counting the sin against a person and justification is the crediting of righteousness to a person’s account. These are inseparable truths tied to those who believe God and his gospel.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
The Lord bore our sins, dying to sins that he did not commit, so that we might live for righteousness. This is the way in which we can be healed.
22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
There is no absolution or forgiveness of sins without an offering. The offering of Jesus enact the new covenant.
28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
In acts is is said this way.
38 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you. 39 Everyone who believes is justified through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.
The Jews trusted in the priests, the temple and the sacrifices as the way to receive forgiveness of their sins but they were conducted not with a humble trusting heart.
The Jews trusted in the physical temple as the place where God’s presence resided on earth. Jesus declared that he is the temple.
19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
The physical temple was destroyed in 70AD. Since then those that trust in the temple as the dwelling place of God have had to make up ways to deal with the lack of the sacrificial system. They do not recognize that Jesus is the temple and he was destroyed and raised up on the third day. This has been extended to those who have faith.
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
That the dwelling place of God is his people
19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
It was by faith and is by faith that forgiveness is received by the righteous. Christ’s death ended the shadow of things to come.
11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
It is common for man to take credit for what they have accomplished. There were Jews who took great pride in how well they fulfilled the rules of the law outwardly. How well they prayed. How well they new the scriptures. It is common for man to trust in themselves first before anything else. To believe that they have earned something.
But the reality is that no one can earn forgiveness. If it can be earned then it is compensation and not forgiveness. It you work off a debt then you are not forgive. But it is the one who trust in the Lord who is forgiven.
43 All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”
Like David, a person who truly sees the sins that they have committed, who know the greatness of their rebellion will go before the one they have sinned against and confess their iniquity and repent from that sin. Those actions do not have power for salvation. They do not restore a person to regeneration but to fellowship with God and the saints.
10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. 11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
and Rom 8:1
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
The moment of salvation our debt has been cancelled we are forgiven all guilt before the throne. Even though we may still sin in this life, it does not remove our justification before God.
1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.
Many don’t know the truth and therefore are darkened in their ignorance of what God calls right. They live in unrepentant sin. They do not know that the consequences of sin is death and that they will either provoke God’s wrath and anger if they are unsaved or his discipline if they are God’s children. Living lives that practice all of the sins of the world. Not even knowing they are incurring a debt they cannot pay.
Others treat forgiveness as a log book where they right down some of their sins and will confess some of them when they want to or when they are found out.
Others keep a log so long of all of the sins they have committed and they see this great debt to God and others. They live their lives trying to make amends. Doing work after work in an attempt to cancel out as many of their own debts as possible. They cannot believe that their debt to God has been forgiven, covered, and counted to someone else's account. They work in futility to out run mistakes and errors. They find themselves continually burdened with the weight of their own iniquities.
Others find ritual or works to believe they have been forgiven. They go before the priest of man that has no power to forgive, instead of going to the high priest who hung on the cross. They set up rituals like the sacrificial system and trust in it. Pray the right amount, go to church the right amount, giving the right amount, trying to tip the scale in their favor and hope that they end their life with the scale in the right direction.
They cannot humble their hearts to just accept the blessing that David received. An adulterer and a murderer, crimes that he was forgiven in heaven but paid a great price on earth. Paul was a murderer, persecutor, a blasphemer and a violent man who know his sins were covered by the blood of the lamb.
11 After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities.
Men like David and Paul had committed what we would call great sins. Many would look to them and say how can you be forgiven by a righteous God. But they had their minds opened to the greatness of their sin and the belief that only through faith could they be forgiven. There is one more story I want to look at today that really shows Jesus mind on the issue of forgiveness.
36 Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—she’s a sinner!” 40 Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He said, “Say it, teacher.” 41 “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.” “You have judged correctly,” he told him. 44 Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. 47 Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
The person who is forgiven much loves much. It was by her faith that she received forgiveness. It was because of the great cancelation of her debt that publicly demonstrated her great love in response.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The one who is forgiven much loves much. This is the blessing of forgiveness that comes to those who have faith on God and are counted as righteous.
A correct understanding of the mercy of forgiveness will change the way you love the Lord. If you think you can earn forgiveness, you will spend time working to earn favor instead of acting out in love and submission to the Lord. It isn’t our work it is a humble and contrite heart that the Lord seeks.
The more we learn of our transgressions, sin, and iniquities, the greater our thanksgiving will be as we see the great debt that was cancelled.
Even though all sin has been paid for we still confess and repent of them as we become aware of them. God dealt with them once for all and we deal with them daily. Working though them as God enlightens our minds to the ways in which we sin against God.
How are we to model forgiveness in light of the example of our Lord? We are called to be people of forgiveness to each other.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Anyone who believes in the work of the cross and the saving sacrifice of Jesus and trusts in the promises that their son is forgiven will be saved. As we come to understand that truth more and more we are called to forgive one another.
Let us be a people of great love for the lord and of great forgiveness to each other.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
