Enjoying God's Forgiveness

GracetoYou.org ^ | 1993 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

In Christ we have infinite forgiveness for every sin—past, present, and future.

On Israel's Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the high priest selected two goats. One was sacrificed; the other set free. Before releasing the second goat, the high priest symbolically placed the sins of the people on it by laying his hands on its head. This "scapegoat" was then taken a great distance from camp and released—never to return again (Lev. 16:7-10).

The Greek word translated "forgiveness" in Ephesians 1:7 means "to send away." It speaks of cancelling a debt or granting a pardon. Like the scapegoat, Christ carried away our sins on the cross.

In Christ, God cancelled your debt and pardoned your transgressions, and He did so "according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon [you]" (v. 8). That means you have infinite forgiveness because God's grace is infinite. You cannot sin beyond God's grace because where sin abounds, grace super-abounds (Rom. 5:20).

God delights in lavishing His grace upon you. Such grace is overflowing and cannot be contained. You are forgiven for every sin—past, present, and future. You will never be condemned by God or separated from Him (Rom. 8:1-2, 31-39). Even when you fail, God doesn't hold your sins against you. Christ bore them all so that you might know the joy and peace that freedom from sin and guilt brings.

Let the reality of God's grace fill your heart with joy and assurance. Let the responsibility of glorifying Him fill you with awe and reverence. Let this day be a sacrifice of praise and service to Him.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for His infinite grace and forgiveness. Look for opportunities to extend forgiveness to others.

For Further Study

Read Matthew 18:21-35.

What characteristic marked the wicked slave? What was the king's response to the wicked slave's actions? What point was Jesus making? How does it apply to you?

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[cuban leaf]

I asked my Sunday school class a sincere question yesterday. Is there a single example anywhere in the NT were we are told to, or anybody is, asking for God’s forgiveness? The only answer I got was from Psalms.

A few of us were discussing afterward and we came to the conclusion that we are given forgiveness, but what we pray about is acknowledging our sin and repenting.

And, conversely, we are told to forgive others, whether they apologize or not. It’s almost as if the apology thing is foreign to Christianity.

The thing is, there are several discrete attributes when it comes to sin:

1. Forgiveness for someone’s sin.
2. Acknowleging that you have sinned.
3. Repenting of said sin.
4. Knowing that Jesus dies once for the cleansing of your sin.

Nowhere in that list is the act of asking for forgiveness. So, if I sin against someone, what would be proper (IMO) is to come to them and acknowledge that I sinned against them, show that I know I was wrong, and show repentance. There is no need to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness is a free gift. It is not something you ask for.

Not even from God. He forgave your sins with his sacrifice before you were born. Why ask for what you already have?

[Hostage]

I’ve recently been learning of a new dimension of perfection from a friend who is devoted to Christ.

I am being taught, at this age, to dismiss the spirits around me that point out my past thoughts and deeds that were not perfectly clean making me think I an not worthy to receive Christ’s love and blessings.

The above awareness was always there but I never took time to understand it’s not me, rather it’s a dark void that wants to suck me in.

The new view is to dismiss such spirits and walk forward confidently in life knowing Christ has our back. So simple but bears repeating.

[metmom]

That’s a very interesting concept, one I have not heard before.

1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. All that’s required is confessing, IOW, acknowledging our sin to Him, and the forgiveness is granted.

[metmom]

Although, in Luke 11 in the Lord’s prayer, part of that prayer is asking for forgiveness.

I did a keyword search on *forgive* and found this.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=forgive&qs_version=ESV

There are some places where people asked forgiveness.

[cuban leaf]

It’s one of those things that was an “Oh Wow” moment for me. The lord’s prayer (from the OT) is quoted in the NT, but the “forgive us our sins, BECAUSE we forgive those who sin against us is the only place. And that is done the day we accept Christ.

[cuban leaf]

With the exception of the Matthew quote, they are all old testament references. And the Matthew quote is telling us to forgive others, as opposed to telling us to ask for forgiveness. And the rest of the Matthew quote is very telling. It goes along with the Lords prayer where we ask him to forgive us BECAUSE we forgive others. :)