Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The doctrine of forgiveness
is at the heart of our hope of eternal life. If there is no
such thing, then we will surely perish. The psalmist asked the
question, If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who
shall stand? The literal meaning of the word
mark here is to save or keep, meaning if the Lord should choose
not to do away with our sins, then we would be destroyed. Sin
is an awful affront against God. It is not taken lightly by him,
nor should it be by us. In fact, he has said, the soul
that sinneth, it shall die. Forgiveness and mercy are not
the same thing. The wicked who perish have at
times been the recipients of his mercy, but not his forgiveness. His forgiveness, though prompted
by mercy, is based on him satisfying his own law, which demands satisfaction
or payment for sin. When God forgives sin, He does
not do it by decree, but by the cancellation of the sin debt.
The only effectual payment for sin that has ever been made was
the shedding of the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's forgiveness is done
on the basis of what Christ has done in the behalf of sinners,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. The psalmist said, There is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. When we consider the
awesome display that he has made in the unfolding of redemption,
we are made to fall upon our faces and worship him, whose
ways are above our ways and whose thoughts are above our thoughts.
We, having been made the recipients of his forgiveness, now are compelled
to forgive those who have transgressed against us. He forgave us who,
being creatures, have disrespected the Creator. How much more ought
we to forgive those who are our equals in the flesh who have
despitefully used us, abused us, or offended us? By looking
at his example of forgiveness to us, we learn how we ought
to forgive others. We are forgiven completely. There
is no such thing as partial forgiveness. Any sin that is unforgiven by
the Almighty would condemn us completely. When we forgive others,
we must do so in a spirit of forgiveness and not in its letter.
The flesh would have us to make a big deal out of making a show
of forgiveness when perhaps we have not done it with our heart.
The colloquial expression for that is to forgive but not forget,
which in reality is hypocrisy. To speak face to face with those
who have offended us, though we forgive them, when in our
hearts we still hold a grudge or ill feeling, is the same as
no forgiveness at all. In fact, such action as this
brings great sorrow and eats as a cancer at the very heart
of the one who will not forgive. We are forgiven continually.
Jeremiah said, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness. Peter asked the Lord how many
times we should forgive. His answer was 70 times 7, which
would literally be 490 times. Of course, he literally meant
that there is no end to the number of times we are to forgive those
who offend us, nor any cessation in our resolve to be forgiving
people. We are forgiven even though we
were the enemies of God. We have been taught to love our
enemies and to pray for those who despitefully use us. We are
forgiven though we have done nothing to deserve it. Repentance
is the result of forgiveness and not its cause. And you being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, have he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses? How often
is our flesh told us not to forgive someone until they act like they
are sorry? The flesh demands some sacrifice
or requires some payment. Grace produces the fruit of repentance
by forgiving the offender. Forgiveness is not a payment
to the deserving, but is the pouring out of mercy upon the
guilty. We are forgiven for Christ's
sake. The basis upon which our sins are forgiven is the blood
of Christ. The basis upon which we forgive
others is his life in us. If we have been forgiven for
his sake, ought we not forgive others for the same? We ought
to have an attitude of forgiveness, which in most cases will prevent
our being offended in the first place. When we are aware of the
great mercy which the Lord has extended to us, it will be but
a light thing for us to extend that same mercy to those who
are against us. We are forgiven from a position
of strength. God had the power to condemn
us, yet He chose to forgive us. A forgiving spirit and a loving
heart is not an exhibition of weakness, but rather of strength.
If when we were enemies we were reconciled by the death of His
Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.