What Is Forgiveness? Part 1

What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is based on God’s unmerited favor. It is purely an act of God’s free grace. Since no man can infuse grace, then man cannot remit the penalty. When the paralytic was brought to Jesus Christ by four men in Mark 2, they had to remove the roof of the building in which they were gathered in order to let him down into the presence of the Lord. Many had gathered together to hear Him speak. When Christ saw the faith of the men that brought the paralytic, He said to him, the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven. But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5-7 NASB). Even the spiritually blind scribes knew that God alone can forgive sins.

The crime of sin is committed against God. All sin is against God. Furthermore, it is God’s law that is broken. Only God Himself has the power to remit the penalty that He has imposed on the transgression of His law. Since the Son of Man has the power to forgive sin, the Son of Man is God. Forgiveness of sin is purely an act of God’s free grace. Christ’s death on the cross is the objective cause of forgiveness which becomes subjective to the individual who is forgiven. “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22 NASB). [In this verse, “...one may almost say, all things…” would be better translated “almost all things.”] Free grace is the subjective, moving cause, since forgiveness is sealed in Christ’s blood. Peter said, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (I Pet. 2:21-25 NASB).

Divine forgiveness is not an act of excited sympathy for the sinner. It is the working out of God’s eternal covenant of grace. The forgiving act of man is generally excited by sympathy for the offender because it is only an occasional act. But God’s forgiveness is the working out of His eternal covenant of grace which is settled, eternal, and immutable. “Now the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20, 21 NASB).

Divine forgiveness is not an act exercised with limitation. From man’s point of view, a sinner who has been forgiven more than once is not likely to receive such favor again. Thus, his chances for forgiveness would decrease with every offence. However, in Divine forgiveness, there is no limitation. It is wonderful to learn that God never illustrates His Divine forgiveness by human representations, but from pictures taken from His own creation. “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12 NASB). “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the LORD has redeemed Jacob And in Israel He shouts forth His glory” (Is. 44:22, 23 NASB).

Divine forgiveness is not an act that takes place outside of the offender. When a human father forgives his child, it is an act outside of the offender. However, Divine forgiveness is an inner change in the offender. There is a moral revolution in the soul of the offender which causes the person to break away from his past masters.

Divine forgiveness does not mean the remission of punishment. This is forgiveness that is connected with reconciliation which can be equated with eternal forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is so complete that He describes it as not remembering our iniquity and transgressions. The one sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient for God’s chosen ones for time and eternity. “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Heb. 10:17, 18 NASB).

Divine forgiveness means God will never seek any further redemptive work. The one sacrifice of Christ has made an end of sin for the elect. God will never punish again what has already been punished in the death of Jesus Christ and forgotten about. The word “forgotten” has been referred to as “the wonder of wonders.” How can God say He will do what in some sense He cannot do? What does man do when he exercises memory? He lays up something in his mind. Man in exercising his memory meditates on the things that have been stored in his mind. Some things recalled that have been stored in the memory are as vivid as if they happened the day before. How do we explain God not remembering our sins that have been paid for in Christ’s death on our behalf? All that can be said seems to be the fact that God does not think over the sins of His people because the record of their sins has been taken away. Therefore, the Judge has no judicial memory of the record. That fact should bring all Christians to a state of peace or tranquility in their submission to the Father.

In Divine forgiveness grace reigns, and the riches of grace are displayed. It is an absolutely perfect forgiveness. Three things are required to make it a fact. It must be full, free, and everlasting. That means it must extend to all sin, be bestowed without any conditions, and must be absolutely irreversible.

The provision made by God for the elect cannot be used up in one act of regeneration. The basis of daily forgiveness is by means of Christ’s one sacrifice for sin. Our wise heavenly Father has stipulated in the salvation of the elect enough grace to forgive and cleanse us daily as long as we are on our earthly pilgrimage. The legal cleansing before God needs daily application in the lives of Christians. There must be a daily subjective experience by Christians of the objective reality of Christ’s finished work at Calvary before God the Father.

God became “like” us, not “became” us, in the Incarnation in order that we might be “like” God, not “become” gods. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3 NASB). God took the initiative. He came to sinful man who could not come to Him. The eternal Father had but one eternal Son. In order that the Father might bring many sons to glory, He sent His only Son. He was not sent “in” sinful flesh, but He was sent in the “likeness” of sinful flesh. The statement “likeness of sinful flesh” does not refer to human nature before the fall, but it refers to the nature of man subsequent to the fall. Although Christ had no corruption in His own human nature, He had the sinless infirmities (hunger, tiredness, etc.) of our human nature. Christ’s human nature looked like a sinful nature, but it was not sinful. The likeness of it denotes the outward appearance. He was born of a sinful woman, possessed the sinless infirmities of human nature, reckoned among transgressors, accused of being a transgressor by man, and treated as one by the justice of God. There was a difference between the sinless human nature of Christ and the sinful nature of depraved man. The difference was so great that He could be the Lamb without blemish and without spot (I Pet.1:19). Christ’s body differed from man’s not only in its death, but also in its resurrection (Acts 2:22-24). His body did not die from weakness, and His body did not see corruption.

Sin is not destroyed in the Christian, but it is condemned in the Christian. Although sin is not destroyed in the believer, he is made to overcome indwelling sin by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The condemnation of sin in the person of Jesus Christ expresses its expiation (atonement) by His blood and not the destruction of its power in us. The work of Christ on the cross was objective; whereas, the work of the Holy Spirit in the elect is subjective. The objective work of Christ was for the elect’s justification before God. On the other hand, the work of the Holy Spirit in the elect is for their progressive sanctification. This militates against perfectionism.

God’s faithfulness and justice are pledged to punish sin and destroy the sinner. Outside of Jesus Christ that is true. However, in Christ, God stands to the justified sinner in a new relationship. He who is faithful and just to destroy the reprobate is faithful and just to forgive the penitent believer who has been born of God. This brings us to some subtle and heretical teaching which requires some mental acuteness to discern.

Failure to make proper distinctions can result in blatant heresy. The following are some examples of improper distinctions:

1. Jesus (Iesous, the eternal Son of God) and Jesus who is called Justus (Iesous, who is called Ioustos, the Christian)—“And she [Mary] will bear a Son [Huios]; and you shall call His name Jesus [Iesous], for it is He who will save His people [the Father’s chosen ones given to Christ—John 17] from their sins” (Matt. 1:21 NASB). “And also Jesus [Iesous], who is called Justus [Ioustos, the Christian]; these are the only fellow workers for the Kingdom of God who are from the circumcision; and they have proved to be an encouragement to me” (Col. 4:11 NASB). Do these two verses make the proper distinction between Jesus and Justus?

The Mormons teach that they are saviors on Mount Zion. The word “Mormons” refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which they prefer to be called. Their major proof texts are Obadiah 21 and Nehemiah 9:27 of the King James translation. “And saviours [NASB translation is ‘deliverers,’ which is correct] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S” (Obadiah 21 KJV). “…and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours [NASB translation is ‘deliverers’], who saved them out of the hand of their enemies” (Neh. 9:27b KJV).

2. Huios (Son) by eternal generation and huios (son) by regeneration—The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son by eternal generation. Christians are sons of God by regeneration. There are heretical statements made by both Catholic priests and Protestant ministers. A priest said, “Since I entered the priesthood, my prayer has been for God to make me another Jesus on earth.” Some prominent Baptist ministers have made statements about Christians being made “little Jesuses.” This is becoming a favorite statement by modern-day religionists.

3. Theos (God) and Theios (God-like nature)—God’s nature does not absorb our nature as a drop of water going back into the sea. There will always be “God and I,” or else there would be no joy or worship. The Divine nature does not grow, but a God-like nature does grow. Therefore, the bounds between the bestowing God and the receiving sinner shall never cease. Another prominent theologian said, “If God can humanize the Divine to the point of its becoming man, as in the instance of Jesus, what is it to hinder Him, in the exercise of the same omnipotence, from deifying man to the point of his becoming divine?” That is a heretical statement, and it is what all Mormons are taught. Therefore, all who fail to make the proper distinctions that have been made are in the same company with the Mormons.

Failure to make proper distinctions between the Persons of the Godhead and between the objective and subjective work of God results in heresy. By grace, the elect will become God’s companions at His appointed time. Having become positionally righteous and justified before God, they will become conditionally sanctified by God’s objective truth committed to them.

Preview Of A Future Message—

What is the difference between “church-going” people and Christ’s assembly members? Only the elect of God are truly looking for truth. That is a Biblical fact. “Church-going” people are looking for either physical healing, prosperity, or entertainment. The preachers are hired diplomats trained to have mutual discussions aiming at agreement on things that they claim are not essential to the respective denominations. The one thing that they all have in common is a form of godliness that denies the power thereof. Assembly members born of God are hungry to be taught the Word of God—the whole council of God from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The ministers, regardless of their training or length of service, say with Paul, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (I Cor. 9:16 NASB). Both assembly members and ministers study in order to handle the Word of God correctly.