GRACE-FORGIVENESS (part 8)
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin
the LORD does not count against them and in whose
spirit is no deceit.
(Psalm 32:3-4)
When we are experiencing the trauma of an unforgiven life, we can start
having doubts that forgiveness is even possible. We might begin to think
that our particular sin has taken us beyond God’s desire and/or ability to
forgive us. But David begins his psalm by giving us a word of hope.
He tells us about his own experience of being forgiven, and he assures us
that when we are forgiven, we will be blessed (as he was). David describes
‘sin’ as ‘transgression’. Transgression is our defiant disobedience against
God. It means we chose to do something that we know is outside of God’s
boundaries for living righteously.
It implies that we have ‘missed the mark’ of living the life God wants us
to live. We can visualize an archer who shoots at a target, but failed to
use enough power, so the arrow fell way short of the target. It reminds
us of our condition described in Romans.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23)
In our own strength, we don’t have enough strength to hit God’s target.
But, when He saves us, He gives us the Holy Spirit who supplies us with
the additional strength we need. In fact, it’s even better than that, the
Holy Spirit will actually fight our battles for us, when we call on Him
and consent to His will over our own will.
David uses the word “deceit”, which is from a Hebrew word that means
to be self-deceived. He is saying that we deceive ourselves into believing
that our disobedience against God is not really defiant sinfulness. In
other words, we find ways to rationalize, or justify our actions.
When David is honest and transparent about his own sin, he is reminding
us that every kind of sin can be forgiven, regardless of our opinion of the
severity of our sin (which can be viewed and ranked differently by every individual).
Someone has described David’s effort in this way:
“The psalmist declares that forgiveness of sin of whatever kind,
whether against God or human beings, whether great or small,
whether conscientious or inadvertently, or whether by omission or
commission, all of that can be forgiven. And forgiveness is found
in God. The nature of sin is not the issue. The nature of God is the
issue”
Our Heavenly Father is a forgiving God. Whatever kind of sin we might
have conjured up in our spirit, our Almighty God is able to forgive that
sin. When God forgives us, what does He do with our transgression, our
sin, our iniquity, and our deceit? Let’s see if we can develop a better
understanding of God’s forgiveness.
‘Forgiveness’ can be considered as ‘making something go away’,
and considering it as though it never happened in the first place.
It is a concept that is difficult for us to ‘wrap our mind around’.
Why? Because we think in terms of ‘justice’, and this makes
‘forgiveness’ seem like an unfair response from our perspective.
We may sense that someone is sorry for their actions, but they still
must be justifiably punished for them. God has a different ‘justice
system’ than we do, and we should be thankful that He does. Look
at this verse in Isaiah:
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous
their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will
have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely
pardon.
(Isaiah 55:7)
In his book “Unpacking Forgiveness”, Chris Brauns lists five things about
the forgiveness of God that helps to define the term. First of all, he tells us
that God’s forgiveness is costly. While it is free for us and there’s nothing
we can do to get it except to ask for it, it is costly to someone. In order for
God to forgive us, He chose to give up his Son as a sacrifice. Because of the
sacrifice of Jesus, our sins were nailed to the cross.
Having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the
handwriting of requirements that was against you, having
nailed it to the cross
(Colossians 2:13-14)
We can be forgiven because everything we have done wrong (sin)
that deserves to be punished with death, our God nailed to the
cross of His Son, Jesus. As a result, He offers us an opportunity
to receive forgiveness for our sin.
Brauns goes on to say that God’s forgiveness is committed. When God
forgives us, he makes a commitment that we are pardoned from our sin,
and that it is no longer counted against us. This is also a concept that is
hard for us to grasp.
If you struggle with your forgiveness, look at this verse:
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions
for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins
(Isaiah 43:25)
God’s forgiveness is also conditional. The only condition for
forgiveness is that we confess our sin. Look at this verse in
1 John:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive you all your sin
(1 John 1:9)
We might think,
“Well, if God knows my sins already, why doesn’t he just forgive me?”
It is because He wants to be sure we know about our sins too. He doesn’t
want us to be in denial about our sins against Him; He wants us to bring
our sins to Him, acknowledge them, confess them, ask for His forgiveness,
and then commit to avoiding them in the future (with the help of the Holy
Spirit).
The word ‘confess’ means to ‘say the same thing about sin that God says’.
It means we don’t stand before God and try to downplay our sin. We
don’t tell God,
“I think I night have made a mistake”
We sinned and we need to tell God what we did (without diluting it),
and confess it. When we do, the Bible says we will be forgiven.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)
That’s it! We simply need to confess our sins (without any justifications,
rationalizations, or minimizing them as being less than they are).
We might think,
“You mean I don’t have to do penance?”
No, we don’t need to do penance, but we do have to confess our sin, and
when we do, God will forgive it. The Bible tells us that when we confess
our sin, things begin to change for us. If we continue to walk as David did
(for 12 months with unconfessed sin), everything in our life can be a mess.
But when David confessed his sin, God brought back to him
the joy of his salvation. David knew he had lost the joy of his
salvation, so he prayed as follows,
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
(Psalm 51:12)
Think about what David was feeling. How many of us, have ever lost
the joy of our salvation (even if it is only for a short time)? Most of us
have discovered that the quickest way to lose the joy of our salvation
is to fall into sin, and then fail (or refuse) to confess it. The longer we
delay in confessing our sins, the deeper we will sink into sinful habits.
One of the greatest consequences of our sins is the feeling that we
have created a huge gap in our relationship with God. As part of
that feeling, we can have a fear that God will withdraw the great
gift He has given us in the Holy Spirit.
The disappearance of His presence can create a great void in our lives
and cause us to have a feeling of hopelessness. It is a loss that David
feared and one that we never want to experience. Why? Because the
Spirit is a precious gift from God for the purpose of helping us in our
struggles with temptations, and our efforts to become more righteous
in the eyes of God. Look at David’s concern about creating a gap in
his relationship with God, and in losing this gift of grace from God.
I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
(Psalm 77:3)
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
(Psalm 51:11)
I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood
my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
(Psalm 6:6)
He knew the value of the Holy Spirit in his life and he prayed that
God would re-ignite the Spirit in his life, as part of His forgiveness
for the sins he had committed.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
(Psalm 51:10)
The Holy Spirit prays our prayers for us when we have difficulty
expressing ourselves about our heartfelt concerns.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
(Romans 8:26)
From these few scriptures above, we can see that having the
presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, is not something to
be taken lightly. He has been given to us by our Creator and
if we lose His presence in our lives, we have lost something
very important and special, that God has promised to every
believer at the time of their salvation.
Do you have unconfessed sin in your own life? You will not rise
above it if you do nothing. God considers you important enough
to be forgiven, and He has given us the instructions we need in
order to receive His forgiveness. His instructions might require
a change in attitude, but they are simple to follow.
None of us want to lose the joy of our salvation, or suffer the feeling
of a gap in our fellowship with God, or feel we are wasting away (as
David did). God loves you and me, He wants what is best for us, and
He wants to fellowship with us.
Make a decision today to no longer justify, rationalize, or dilute the
severity of your sins, but humble yourself and be transparent with
God as you confess them to Him, because all sin is ultimately against
God, and He is the One we need to receive our forgiveness from.
(watch for part-9 of the series tomorrow….)
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