Grace Explained 105_Understanding Your Forgiveness

In today's lesson we will look at our forgiveness and understand that we are totally and completely forgiven today by the blood of Christ in the dispensation of Grace. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, and thank you for joining us with another edition of Grace Explained. Today we're going to talk about forgiveness, and we're going to talk about understanding your forgiveness. There's so many times people really don't understand forgiveness, and especially believers don't understand their forgiveness that they have, and they think that there's still things that they have to do to receive the forgiveness, and not realizing what God has already given them, and how that Christ and His work on the cross has made it possible for them to have forgiveness of sins. So as we go ahead and we uh look into the scriptures today, we want to we want to see and understand our forgiveness today. Um, I've talked to many people about forgiving others, um, talk to people about forgiveness not only of them you know themselves, but forgiving others. And, you know, some people have a hard time with forgiving other people. They are and there's a reason for it, I th I believe. Um, I think a big reason is because they just don't understand their own forgiveness. Now, some may not have forgiveness um because they've never put their trust in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so their sins aren't forgiven. And then there's many believers that I've talked to that they don't know what forgiveness is because they just haven't understood it in the scriptures. So, what we want to do is we want to be able to look at the scriptures, understand what God has done in the past, what God's doing today, and understand that um that you are forgiven. And this is something that's a blessing that we receive from God by his grace through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. So as we understand and look at forgiveness, um we really need to get it and understand it for ourselves. Or if we can't forgive ourselves, we'll have a hard time forgiving others. Um we'll look at that today and we'll kind of see um, hopefully by the end of this lesson, we'll see some differences and then see what God is doing today. Remember, we had looked back at the scriptures um on the last message and the last lesson, and we had looked at Matthew chapter six, and when uh the Lord Jesus Christ was talking about what people are called the Lord's Prayer, he says in Matthew 6 verse 14 14, he says, For if ye forgive men your trust their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye for forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. So there is an understanding that back then that we need to forgive others so that we can be forgiven. Remember, um we have talked about before under the law there's a if-then principle. When Christ came on the earth, he didn't get rid of the law, he he exalted the law, and he he raised the bar of the law, if you will. And so he's telling, he's telling them, hey, you need to forgive others if you want to have your trespasses forgiven. And you remember um Peter had asked, he goes, Well, how many times should I forgive my brother? You know, seven times, and remember Christ said, no, 70 times seven, which really he wasn't giving him that number of, hey, you know, once you hit 491, you don't have to forgive your brother anymore. It was pretty much no, you continually forgive your brother. Um, this was something that they were to do for them to receive the blessings. Today, that's just not what's happening. We're not, we're not, we're not, our forgiveness isn't based on whether we forgive others or what we may do. Um, and I'll we'll look at this a little bit more, but Colossians 1:14 says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. The one thing, if you get anything out of this message, is to understand your forgiveness today is not based on anything you do, it's not based on anything you say, it's based on the Lord Jesus Christ and our redemption through his shed blood on the cross. That's why our sins are forgiven. Our sins are forgiven today because of what Christ did on the cross for us, not because of anything that we have done. It's all based on the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that we have today in the dispensation of grace, everything that our eternal life, our blessings, everything is based on what Christ has already done. And so we need to we need to remember that. That's the biggest understanding of grace. When people ask, well, what kind of church did you have? I told them, I said, well, there's no other way to that I would describe it other than it was a grace church. Or, you know, I'd say it's it was a Bible church, but really it wasn't just that it was a Bible church, it was a Bible church that taught grace and the understanding of grace and what and what the grace is that we're to not only understand, but teach and to show others. And a big part of that having that grace is knowing how to forgive others and knowing what forgiveness is and what forgiveness is in our life. Um so I've heard people say, well, you know, when you sin or you do something wrong, you need to confess your sins. Because if you confess your sins, then and ask for forgiveness, you know, then God will forgive you. But when you do this, this is kind of like a a short account system. This isn't this isn't that your sins are completely forgiven. This is like, okay, your sins are forgiven, but if you want, if you did something wrong and and you want God's forgiveness, you need to ask for forgiveness. Because if you don't ask for forgiv ask for forgiveness, then you're not going to get forgiveness. So this is not something that that that God is doing today. Um this is definitely something that is that is taught to the nation of Israel. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, first of all, understanding 1 John. 1 John is what we would call a tribulation epistle. 1 John is written by the apostle John, and 1 John is not written to the nation of, I mean, to the body of Christ. It's not written to the members of the body of Christ, and it's not something written to us. Is it written for us and things we can learn? Sure, but it's not written to us. John is not one of our apostles. Um, so this this verse that that is is um penned by John, who's not our apostle, and it's actually a verse written to Israel about them being cleansed from all unrighteousness, and them having the forgiveness of sins. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 2, he says, Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. And then he goes on and he names the other eight. And I'm not going to read that, but if you drop down to verse 5, Matthew 10 and verse 5, he says, And these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles. So in Matthew chapter 10, what did Christ tell the twelve to go to the Gentiles? Did he no, he said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not. You're not to go to the way of the Gentiles, you're not to go to the Samaritans, which were Jew and Gentiles mixed together. You're not to go to them. So who are the who is their ministry to? He says, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So in 1 John, it's not written to us as members of the body of Christ. It's not written to Gentiles as a way to be saved. 1 John is written to the little flock in the nation of Israel. It's written to that nation. It's not written to us as Gentiles. And this is where the confusion happens so much through the scriptures, is that so many times people try to, they take a verse, they take it out of context, and then they try to apply it to our lives today, and when they do that, it just doesn't work out. It's not talking to us. This is not something for us to take as our scripture and go, okay, he's talking, he's not talking to me as a member of the body of Christ. He's talking to the 12 apostles about going and preaching the gospel and going and ministering to the nation of Israel and also to the little flock. So that little flock is the group of believers within the nation. So he's going to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then he's they're going to that little flock. They're trying to teach them and have them understand what's going on. In Matthew chapter 19 and verse 28, and Jesus saith, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me and the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory. So now we're talking about the kingdom. This is, he's talking to the kingdom. And he's talking to the to the twelve, and he says, Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Have you ever wondered why there were twelve apostles? It wasn't just because it was a random number. It wasn't just because it was a dozen. It was there's twelve apostles for a specific reason. And the reason that there's twelve apostles, there's not eleven, there's not thirteen, but there's twelve apostles, and the reason that there's twelve apostles is because those twelve apostles are going to sit on twelve thrones and they're going to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And if you remember some lessons before, the twenty Gentiles, Gentile nations, the rest of the world, if you will, remember, they're going to be blessed through the nation of Israel. Remember, they're going to become through the nation of Israel. And this is why I would suppose all through history that the nation of Israel has been a persecuted people. And they've been a persecuted people because they don't the nations don't want to have to go through Israel. This isn't Israel's decision. This was God's decision and desire that he had back with Abraham. And it was part of the Abrahamic covenant. And so as we look at these things, we see that forgiveness in times past, forgiveness with the nation of Israel was different and is different than today in the dispensation of grace. So when people, you know, people would say, Today, I would have people say to you, well, you know, you you you know, Keith, if you you go ahead and you you sin, you have to confess your sins. If you don't confess your sins, then you're not gonna be forgiven. I go, well, wait a second. I go, first of all, you're using a verse that's not written to me. You're using a verse out of context, and they go, yeah, but you gotta understand this is like parental forgiveness. You know, if your child does something wrong, they need to come to you and they need to tell you that they're sorry, that they did it, and that they're sorry. You know, and when they did it and that they're sorry that you would forgive them. And I'm like, what? Wait a second. I've got three kids. Are you telling me that the only way that I should forgive my kids is if they go ahead and they first tell me that what they did was wrong and then and and tell me that they're sorry, then I would forgive them? No. I've I forgave them the moment that they did it. And people just don't they don't understand that. I mean, this is not a way that we we we treat our children. So when people are going, well, you know, you really need to, you really need to to to ask for forgiveness, and if you ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you. Um, I don't believe that. I believe that that our sins are already forgiven. Back to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 14. We had looked at that already. He says, in whom we have redemption. We have we have we have the the Lord Jesus Christ, through his shed blood on the cross of Calvary, through that we've been redeemed. We have actually had God look at us and say, At one point you were unrighteous, but today you're now righteous. And we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. So it's not only that we have now eternal life and we have redemption through his blood, but it's even the forgiveness of sins. And how is this, you know, we we we see that it's the blood of Christ, that's the means in which it's happened. The blood of Christ is it's how it's is is why it's happened. But how has it happened? Well, Ephesians 1 and verse 7 says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, pretty much exactly the same verse as Colossians 1.14. But then Paul adds a little bit more when he was talking to the saints at Ephesus. He says to them, according to the riches of his grace. Remember that the name of this podcast is Grace Explained. The whole point of this is to understand God's grace and understand what God's doing. And one of the riches of his grace, one of the things that that we receive by God's grace, one of the things we understand, um, and one of the blessings that we have through through the grace of God is redemption and forgiveness. So our forgiveness is not based on us. Our forgiveness is not based on us um admitting that we sinned. Our forgiveness is not based on us confessing our sin. Our forgiveness is based on the Lord Jesus Christ's shed blood on the cross of Calvary, redemption through his blood, and it's done according to the riches of God's grace. God says, My desire is to make you perfect, make you whole, make you clean, make you righteous. And I'm doing this as a gift to you. Remember, we talked about that. What is grace? It's a gift. And we are getting complete and total forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 4 and verse 6. Paul says, even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. You know what? A man is blessed today. A man is a man is blessed, and he he has righteousness by God. God has given him righteousness, put it to his account, imputed it, put it to his account without works. All through the ages, the works never made a person righteous. It was the faith in what God had, the message that God had for them at that time. And he says, even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, verse 7 says, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. We looked at that last time. How that in times past their sins weren't their sins weren't forgiven, their sins were covered. And they still, they Lord Jesus Christ had not come on the earth yet. The Lord Jesus Christ had not come down, God the Son, manifest in the flesh, lived a perfect, righteous life, and then willingly went to the cross of Calvary and died our death. He died as our sacrifice. He took our place, and he died on the cross for our sins, according to the scriptures. And he says, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So even back then, God wasn't putting sin on their account. Because why? Their faith. Their faith in what he had said, but they still had a sin issue. They took care of the things they needed to take care of by doing sacrifices and doing the things that God had told them to do, and they did it by faith. But then when Christ came and he lived on this earth and he lived that perfect life, and he and he lived that righteous life, and he went to the cross willingly, and he died on the cross for our sins. That's when their sins were taken care of. The sins that are past. And you remember, God doesn't wait for us to clean up our life, God doesn't wait for us to quit sinning, God doesn't wait for us to turn our life around before he saves us. Romans 5.8. But God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we are yet sinners, he showed his love to us. And that while we were yet sinners, not when we cleaned up our life, not when we turned our life around, no, but while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Remember, Christ, what he did on the cross, that was something that was put to our account. So God doesn't take our sin that we do even today and put it to our account. Why? Because of what Christ did. Our sins, the Lord will not impute sin to us. Why? Because of what Christ did. Remember, when Christ died 2,000 years ago, how many of your sins were future? 2,000 years ago, before you were ever born, how many, when Christ died on the cross, how many of your sins were future? Every single one of them. And when he died for those sins, he didn't just die for the sins up until the moment you got saved, and those were forgiven. And then after that, every time you sinned, every time you made a mistake, every time you did something wrong, every time No, it you had to ask for forgiveness. You had to confess your sin. You had to you had to walk down an aisle. Guys, I'm I went to a church in high school. I watched guys, people I Went to high school with. They weren't any different than anybody else in that church. And they made mistakes throughout the week, just like all of us did. But the difference, but the thing was, they were told you gotta come down, you gotta confess your sin. And I would sit and I would watch sometimes the same people Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, crying, crying, crying, because they they didn't understand the forgiveness of sins, and they'd come down and they someone from the church, some you know, elder from the church would would kneel next to them and they would pray and they're weeping and they're praying and confessing their sins. And can I tell you, that's not a joyous Christian life. That's not understanding the riches of God's grace when you're doing that. And it was sad. And here I am, I'm in high school, and even right out, and I'm looking at this, going, this isn't right. This isn't what God's doing. This is not what he's doing at all. And I looked at it and I knew something was wrong. Didn't know what it was, hadn't figured it out, but something just didn't sit right with me. This is not what the Christian life is. This is not what we should be teaching people that they are condemned. And every time they go to church, they feel condemned. They don't feel the joy, but they feel condemnation. And it bothered me. It bothered me in my spirit. And the one reason I I believe I really started teaching and preaching was I wanted people to understand the joy that they have in Christ, the person who they are in Christ, their identity in Christ as a member of the body of Christ and a complete and full-grown, mature Son of God. Colossians chapter, so when you think about it, how many of our sins were future when Christ died? Every single one of them. When he died on the cross for our sins, how many did he die for? Every single one of them. How many of them are forgiven? Every single one of them. And the moment we put our faith and trust in that, all of our sins are forgiven. Even the ones you're going to commit tomorrow, in a year from now, and ten years from now. Colossians 2.13, and you being dead in your sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together. So here you are, you're dead in sins, because of because of our sin nature, our fleshly body, we're dead in sins. And it says, hath he quickened together? One of the things that happens the moment we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ is we're made alive, we're quickened. We're quickened together with Him, with Christ. And then the last part of that verse is having forgiven you all trespasses. He doesn't say having forgiven you all of your sins until the moment you believe. He doesn't say having forgiven you most of your sins. He doesn't say having forgiven you sins until the moment you believe. He says, having forgiven you all trespasses. 1 John 1 9, interestingly enough, says if we confess our sins and he is faithful and just to forgive us their sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Again, that verse talking to Israel is when they confess their sins, all of their sins were forgiven. People do not have to confess their sins every day, every moment, every Sunday, every time they walk into church, every time they lay down in bed at night. I mean, heck, I used to do that, lay down in bed. God, forgive me of my sins, even the ones I don't know that I did. You know there's there's pe there's things that we do, we don't even realize it, you know, and it's and it's sin. And, you know, just a carte blanche, just forgive me all my sins today. Oh, forgive me all my sins today. No, I don't need to ask for forgiveness. You know why? Because all my sins are already forgiven. They're forgiven because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're forgiven according to the riches of God's grace. If you don't know what it is to have total forgiveness of sins, if you've never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, remember there's nothing you can do. You can't raise a hand, you can't say a prayer, walking down an aisle is not going to do it. It's simply a decision between you and God. It's simply for you to put your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in him. And what is it that you believe? That he just existed? No. Believe that he is God the Son who came onto this earth, he lived a righteous life, and he died on the cross for your sins, so that you could have the free gift of eternal life by simply putting your faith in him by God's grace. If you've never done that, I pray that you would do that today. If you have any questions or any comments, you can always you can always uh email us at at gracexplained at gmail.com. Until next time.