Annual Sermons: Vol. 5 No. 10 Text: Acts 2:38,16-31

Transcription

1 Annual Sermons: Vol. 5 No. 10 Text: Acts 2:38,16-31 Concord Baptist Church: 1991 Bob Marcaurelle THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS Forgiveness is the layman s word for salvation. Long theological terms like justification seem strange to him, but he can say, God has forgiven me. This word also dominates the vocabulary of the Bible. In the days of Moses, God said, The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex. 34:6,7). Through Jeremiah God described the new covenant in which He would forgive iniquity and remember sin no more (Jer. 31:34). John the Baptist came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). Jesus explained His death in terms of forgiveness as He lifted the cup and said, This is My blood of the New Testament, shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28). He commissioned His church to preach repentance and promised forgiveness in His name (Luke 24:47). And the church s first sermons called for repentance and promised forgiveness (Acts 2:38). And so today we turn to this great and fundamental blessing of salvation - forgiveness. And we shall ask and answer several questions. I. WHAT IS FORGIVENESS When God forgives, God forgets. The three Hebrew words for forgiveness in the Old Testament all carry the idea of removal. Kipper means to cover ; nasa, to life up or carry away ; and salach probably means to let go. Norman Snaith comments, It (sin) is covered so that it no longer obtrudes itself between man and God; it is carried away so that it ceases to form a barrier; it is forgiven so that there is no resentment or anger in the mind of the injured party. The great New Testament word APHIEMI which means to send away carries the same idea. In ancient Israel the high priest would lay his hands upon a live goat

2 and confess the sins, iniquities and transgressions of the people. The goat was then sent out into the wilderness BEARING these sins (Lev. 16:20-22). The Bible says, As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He REMOVED our transgressions from us (Ps. 103:12). And again, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is COVERED (Ps. 32:1). God says, I am He who BLOTS OUT your transgression for my own sake and I will NOT REMEMBER your sins (Is. 43:25). And again, I have SWEPT AWAY your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist (Is. 44:22). And again, I will CLEANSE them from all their iniquity (Jer. 33:8). John the Baptist said of Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God who TAKES AWAY the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). Simon Peter preached, Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be BLOTTED OUT (Acts 3:19). From the moment we accept Jesus, as far as God is concerned, our sin is gone. It is wiped away, swept away, erased, cleansed and forgotten. God sees us in Christ and sees our sin as punished. He sees Christ in us and sees our sin nature doomed to be annihilated. One little boy asked another, Is there anything God can t do? Sure, there is, replied the other, He can t see our sins after they have been put on Jesus. 1. Removal of Sin s Penalty. These are, of course, metaphors, and we must ask, In what way does God remove sins? The basic idea is the removal of sin s penalty. God has decreed, The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ez. 18:4, 20). And this is both physical and spiritual death which is just punishment in hell (Rev. 21:8). The forgiven escapes this. He is declared not guilty by God the Judge. Paul s word fr this is justification (Ro. 4:4). He is declared a friend of God. Paul s word for this is reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). But most of all, a forgiven man is declared to be a child of God. Paul s word for this is adoption (Ro. 8:15). The Bible says, He who believes in Him is not condemned (Jn. 3:18). The Bible says, He who believes in

3 Him is not condemned (Jn. 3:18) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Ro. 8:1). All our sins - past, present and future - are pardoned and put away - for we ourselves are pardoned children of God. And this is a once-for-all, never-to-be-repeated event. This initial or judicial forgiveness places us in an eternal STATE or CONDITION of forgiveness. We are not guilty before God the Judge (Justification). We are not estranged from God our friend (RECONCILIATION). And we are children of God our Father (Adoption). All our Christian lives, as we slip up and sin, we will ask for and receive PARENTAL forgiveness (1 Jn. 1-9). These sins break our FELLOWSHIP with God but never our RELATIONSHIP. As W.T. Conner says, We may become disobedient sons but never condemned rebels. 2. Removal of Sin s Partition. But forgiveness has a positive side - it is complete restoration to favor. The word RECONCILIATION means that two estranged people (the sinner and God) become friends. Being forgiven, we can sing, What a friend we have in Jesus/All our sins and griefs to bear. The word ADOPTION means God accepts the sinner as His own child. He claims us. He calls Himself our Father. Being forgiven, we can sing, I m a child of the King / A child of the King Through Jesus my Savior / I m a child of the King Human forgiveness, at best, is always partial. But God s forgiveness is such that He forgets. This means He treats us as though we never sinned. The best Biblical picture of this is in Jesus parable of the Prodigal Son. When the sinful boy (representing us) started home from the hog pens, the father (representing God) saw him coming. And what does God do when He sees us turning to Him? Jesus says He runs to meet us, hugs us, clothes us with the finest robe and feeds us the finest food. Helmut Thielicke says God runs after the lost like the

4 Salvation Army! When Lincoln was asked how he would treat the rebellious Southerners after the Civil War, he answered, I will treat them as if they had never been away. 3. Removal of Sin s Power. Men object to full and free forgiveness of guilty men on the grounds that it is immoral. But God never forgives without changing. Only he whom God gives a NEW HEART (Regeneration) does He give a NEW START (Justification or Forgiveness). When Jeremiah pictured what God would do under the new covenant, before he mentioned God s words, I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jer. 31:34), he gave the words, I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts (Jer. 31:33). Forgiveness is only given to those whom God, through the new birth, has made repentant and thus morally able to receive it. But not only is forgiveness connected with the new birth, it is part of it. It gives power to it. The experience of being forgiven is itself life-changing. Jesus said, He who is forgiven little, loves little (Lk. 7:47). It is those souls conscious of a great debt they can never repay who love and serve their Lord the most. The best way to make people holy and useful is to preach a full, free forgiveness from the pierced hands of the Living Christ. Those who see their sin and see themselves as brands pulled from the fire will say with the hymn, Were the whole realm of nature mine That were a present far too small Love so amazing, so divine Demands my life, my soul, my all. The New Testament, realizing this, constantly uses our sense of being forgiven as a call to high and holy living. Paul said, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Eph. 4:32). And again, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must

5 forgive (Col. 3:13). And again, because of God s many mercies to us, I make this appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, (Rom. 12:1, TEV). The love of God does not just come to us, it flows THROUGH us. 4. Removal of Sin s Presence. But one day these promises of removal will be completely fulfilled and God will remove from us who are saved, the very PRESENCE of sin. The Bible says Jesus will one day present His church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27). When God forgets sin, He is not pretending, for He sees the day when it will be gone for good. 5. Not the Removal of Sin s Pain. Forgiveness however does not remove the painful consequences of sin, either in ourselves or in others. This is why it is so important to be saved early. God forgives the drunkard but the diseased liver stays diseased and the emotional scars he has put on his family remain and the child he ran over while drunk is still dead. All sin is harmful and painful and the harm and the pain so often linger after we ourselves are forgiven. The Bible has many beautiful pictures of forgiveness. Our sins have been put on Christ (Isa. 53:6). Our sins have been cast into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19). Our blood red sins are washed white as snow (Isa. 1:18). All our sins are washed white as snow (Isa.1:18). All our sins have been put behind God s back (Isa. 38:17). Our transgressions are covered (Ps. 32:1). Our sins are forgotten by the Lord (Heb. 10:17). R.G. Lee says sin is a debt and forgiveness is the cancelling of the debt. Sin is a cloud and forgiveness is the sun that drinks it. Sin is a stain and forgiveness is the bath that washed it away. Sin is dross and forgiveness is the furnace that burns it away. Sin is darkness and forgiveness is the light that dispels it. Sin is a poison and forgiveness is the antidote. II. WHERE IS FORGIVENESS FOUND?

6 Where is this wonderful forgiveness found? Is it along the route of SELF IMPROVEMENT? Or reformation? Of turning over a new leaf? Of trying to do better? This is the general opinion of the man-on-the-street. The gospel according to man is that God forgives those who try to live right. Yet the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Those who seek in any way to earn or deserve forgiveness never find it because forgiveness is a gift from God, the injured Party. The Bible says, We are all unclean and our righteousness is like filthy rags (Is. 68:6). And again, No amount of soap and lye can make you clean. You are stained with guilt that cannot ever be washed away. I see it always before Me, the Lord God says (Jer. 2:22 LB). Is it along the route of SACRIFICE and ceremony? Can church membership or baptism or Holy Communion wash away sin? This too is a fruitless search because forgiveness is a moral and personal experience between two PERSONS. It is not what we apply to our bodies (water or wine) but what takes place between our hearts and God s heart that determines our relationship with Him. It comes not through holy ritual but through heartfelt repentance. The route to forgiveness winds up Mount Calvary. The Gospel of God connects forgiveness with the Cross. Forgiveness is a gift to those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who, because they are born again, and because they are grateful for salvation do try to live right. Forgiveness and the death of Christ always go together in the Word of God. The Old Testament sacrificial system, established by God, portrayed the way of salvation and it was the way of death and blood. The Bible says, Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb. 9:22). Jesus, on the night before His death, lifted up the cup and said, This is my blood of the New Testament, shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins (Mt. 26:28). The hymn is right, What can wash away my sins/nothing but the blood of Jesus. The Bible says forgiveness is found only at the feet of the

7 injured Party, of Almighty God, seen hanging on a cross in Jesus Christ, revealing the need, the cost and the fact of forgiveness. As Frank Stagg put it, we and God look at Calvary together and we REMEMBER together that we may FORGET together. We CONDEMN it together and thus FORGET together. At the cross we see the NEED of forgiveness because we see what our sin nature does to God. At the cross we see the COST of forgiveness as every drop of Jesus blood proclaims that God will let no sin go unpunished. As the cross we see the FACT of forgiveness as God in human form cries, Father, forgive them, and opens His arms of love even to his murderers. Where is forgiveness found? At the cross! And now for the most important questions of all... III. HOW IS FORGIVENESS RECEIVED? How can you and I avail ourselves of the benefits of Calvary? Peter cried out, Save yourselves from this crooked generation (Acts 2:40). How can we? The Bible seems to give two different answers, but when we look at the two, we see they are one and the same. When the crowd at Pentecost asked, What shall we do?, Peter answered, REPENT and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). When the jailer at Philippi asked Paul what he had to do to be saved, he replied, BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ... (Acts 16:31). They are one and the same. We turn from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith).