Forgiveness — a vital reality

 

A younger person once said to me, “It must be a lot easier to be a Christian as you get older.” I nearly laughed out loud. MacArthur has a good answer to that comment:  “As you mature in Christ, the frequency of your sinning decreases, but your sensitivity to it increases. That doesn’t mean you are more easily tempted, but that you are more aware of the subtleties of sin and how it dishonors God.”

More aware, more concerned, more feeling helpless partly because of age, but mostly because I feel helpless without total dependence on the Lord. Saying no to sin is only part of it; saying yes to God adds another challenge.

No, it is not easier, but my relationship with Jesus is deeper with more knowledge of Him, richer understanding of His ways and His love for me, greater consistency in prayer and a deeper desire to drop all worldly things to serve Him, even in the helplessness that I feel. There is also a richer understanding of forgiveness; I stand in need of it more often, not because I sin more often, but am more deeply aware of it when I do.

Jesus teaches us to ask Him: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Forgiveness goes to me and from me. Because Jesus died for me, I am forgiven. Because Jesus died for all, I can forgive as He does.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8–10)

This is not about salvation but an identifier: it tells how to distinguish believers from unbelievers: believers confess their sins; unbelievers don’t. No rationalization. No excuses. No fudging, hedging, or blame-shifting. The sense of grieving the Spirit of God is too great. I want to please Him, not make Him sad. I want my joy back too, for it flies away when I’m aware of my sin. Jesus calls it a debt because I’ve violated God’s holiness and said no to Him in some way. I own Him better than that. This isn’t about losing my salvation, but if I do not repent, God will chasten me.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Hebrews 12:5–8)

Here I must repeat what I consider the most important verse in the NT for continued joy in the Lord, growth to be like Jesus, and the key to a powerful Christian life: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Lord Jesus, You live inside me. When I sin, I could hide that reality and my focus then changes from You to ‘poor me’ — so the need to confess sin is vital. It is a matter of letting You be seen, of glorifying You. Besides that, I can do nothing of value unless I’m abiding in You. That is impossible if I’m harboring sin. All that said, forgiveness is incredible. It makes deep relationships possible, with You and also with others. Convict me quickly for sinful attitudes, words and actions. May I always be quick to confess them to You.

CONSIDER: Psalm 38 describes David’s physical and emotional ramifications because of his sin. Do I feel like that? If not, that lack is also something to confess as it indicates a lax attitude toward the holiness of God.

 

 

Jesus changes history

READ Romans 1–4

What makes a driver cruise past a speed limit sign at a rate twice the number on that sign? Do they excuse it? “I will miss my appointment” or “I didn’t notice the sign”? What makes a person rob a store or dupe seniors out of their life savings? How do they excuse it?

Romans 1 makes this startling statement:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18–23)

Reading again that line: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

God says everyone knows He is eternal, powerful, heavenly. It is made clear since creation and in the things created. Yet much of the human race now proclaims there is no God. He is dead, or if He does exist, He is weak. Many think His creation evolved over millions of years, not made by God but it just happened. These verses are mocked. What erased that plain understanding given by God to everyone?

The following verses describe the consequences. Seeing clearly did not produce honor to God or thankfulness. Instead, humanity turned from what they could see and made up a different scenario, one that allowed them to decide what their god should be like instead of what He’d shown them about Himself. The Bible call this “going our own way” and names it sin.

Drivers know the speed limit. Thieves know they have no right to take what belongs to others. But the doing of such things eventually blinds them and changes their thinking. God explains it:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:24–27)

Since humanity already denied what God had shown them, what were His options? He could reveal more truth about Himself but that had already been rejected. So He gave humanity up to their own rule, which became a slippery slope. Sadly, some people stop reading here, condemn those who have gone to the ends as described above and make that one of the “worst” sins. This is a mistake . . .

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:28–32)

Sexual sin isn’t the only sin. Note the list. All of us have done at least some of it. I may not have murdered anyone literally, but in thought. I may not be described as ruthless, but I have gossiped. In the mind of God, sin is sin and sin is the result of saying NO to what He reveals about Himself.

Grace is God giving a second chance. It was costly for Him, but free for us, another revelation. “Yes, you rejected Me, but here I am again, this time in human form to reveal My love and that I want you to be with Me forever. That is a gift. You only need to admit you have sinned, admit the obvious. I will take you back, reveal myself to you. Just say YES to Jesus, YES to forgiveness, and I will grant you forgiveness, power over sin and eternal life.”

And for those who do this, trusting the promise of God and believing, He changes everything, even drops the name “sinner” and gives us the righteousness of Christ. How utterly incredible!