“Blessed”
Nugget #5 - Redemption brings forgiveness, there is no other way.
(1 John 1:8)
– “If we claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”
I am going to draw from
and give credit to John MacArthur for his content on his website called “Grace
to you”. I like what he has to say concerning forgiveness;
“The value of the gospel
is that it provides complete forgiveness of all sin for the sinner who embraces
the gospel. And the forgiveness that God provides for us is so comprehensive
that it removes from the believer all defilement, all shame, all guilt, all
punishment forever and replaces it with righteousness, security, and eternal
reward. This is the gift of forgiveness. It is inviolable, it is irrevocable,
nothing or no one can cause the forgiveness granted to the believer to be taken
back, or to be rescinded. No one can talk God out of it, or change His mind, or
successfully bring up any accusation against that believer that would cause God
to cancel that forgiveness. The consummate promise that we cling to with regard
to that is found in the eighth chapter of Romans verse 1 – “There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Back in Romans chapter 4
verse 7 and 8 – taken from Psalm 32 say, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds
have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose
sin the Lord will not take into account.” We are blessed because God will never
take our sins into account. The Old Testament says; “He has buried them in the
depths of the deep blue sea, He has removed them as far as the East is from the
West, and He remembers them no more.”
Yet, in spite of this
gracious and merciful generosity on God’s part toward all who repent and
embrace Jesus Christ, we (according to 1 John 1:8-10) “If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not
sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” This
is a statement of fact. However, very confusing to many.
MacArthur goes on to
say, “Psalm 32 is prayed by David. David was a believer. David was a child of
God who confessed his sin. In verse 1 David says, “Blessed is the one whose
transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” In verse 3 He said, “When
I kept silent about my sin my body wasted away through my groaning all day
long; For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was drained
away…Then I acknowledged my sin to Thee, my iniquity I did not hide, I said,
‘I’ll confess my transgressions to the Lord, and Thou didst forgive the guilt
of my sin.” Yes, David was a child of God, but when he didn’t confess his sin
he felt tremendous pressure. It distressed him. What was happening was the guilt
that was flooding his mind was having an impact on his body. Then he confessed
and opened his heart, and he felt the free flow of God’s forgiveness and
restoration. Believers by nature do this. It is the result of the work of God
in them. It is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in them. It is the
result of the Word of God in them, all of which convict of sin. Yes, God
convicts the conscience of non-believers…but we are talking about born again
Christians here.
So, we have a problem
here. We have a dilemma. Why would I confess and ask God to forgive my sins if
I know that He has already forgiven my sin in Christ Jesus?”
MacArthur goes on to
give several opinions others have given on the subject, but here is the one
that makes the most sense, and I believe I can agree with;
“Well how are we to
understand this apparent contradiction? Simple really, there are two kinds of
forgiveness. It is true, as I said, that all our sins are forgiven as far as
the judgment of God is concerned, He did that on the Cross. (That’s called
“Justification”.) The ongoing confession of sin is related to sanctification.
God is still grieved when his children sin. Yes, we are justified (which takes
care of the judicial, or penalty of sin) but He wants us to be “sanctified” because
we have not been delivered from the presence and the consequence of sin. That
is an ongoing process and that is why we must continue to confess and be
cleansed.”
1 John 1:9 – “if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins), and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.”
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