SIN AND FORGIVENESS

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FORGIVENESS OF SINS

“The gospel message consists of two parts: forgiveness of sins and repentance” John Calvin (ref#164, June 8th).

“Folly is bound up in hearts, but the sanctified rod of correction reveals it, and the discovery proves one of the costliest blessings in the experience of the disciplined child. [L]et us not then shrink from the probing nor be afraid at its discovery, if it leads us nearer to holiness, nearer to Christ, nearer to God, nearer to heaven! Past backslidings—unnoticed, unsuspected, and unconfessed—are recalled to memory when God is dealing with us” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jan 25th).

“Forgiveness, received freely from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, acts as a spring, an impulse, a stimulus of divine potency. It is more irresistible than law, or terror, or threat” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p207).

“It is forgiveness that sets a man working for God. He does not work in order to be forgiven, but because he has been forgiven, and the consciousness of his sin being pardoned makes him long more for its entire removal than ever he did before” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p207).

“Inheriting the kingdom of God is a great gift that involves both forgiveness and repentance. These two are to be distinguished but never separated. Examine yourself today: are you both forgiven and penitent? If so, thank God today for these priceless gifts that lead to eternal life” John Calvin (ref#164, June 8th).

“The sum of the gospel is that God through his Son takes away our sins and admits us to fellowship with him, so that we, in denying ourselves and our own nature, may ‘live soberly, righteously, and godly.’” John Calvin (ref#164, June 8th).

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HOLINESS

“God demands more than that we acknowledge His holiness. He says to us, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ God rightfully demands perfect holiness in all of His moral creatures. It cannot be otherwise. He cannot possibly ignore or approve of any evil committed” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p26).

“God, being God, cannot simply forgive sin. Now the common idea about God, the one that we have instinctively is that when we admit we have sinned, all that is necessary is that we should come to God, say we are very sorry, and God will forgive us. But according to the Bible that is impossible. God, because He is God, cannot just forgive sin like that. If God could have forgiven sin just by saying, ‘I forgive,’ He would have done so, and Christ would never have been sent into this world. The work that was given to Him to do was given to the Lord Jesus Christ because without it God cannot forgive sin. He must not only justify the ungodly—He must remain just. The way of salvation must be consistent with the character of God. He cannot deny Himself; He cannot change Himself; He is unchangeable. He is absolutely righteous and holy and just. He cannot remain that and simply forgive sin” Martyn Lloyd Jones (ref#189, Feb 17th).

“[W]ithout holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14 NIV).

“The work of Christ was essential because of the character of God, and it was essential because of man being in sin; something had to be done to render man fit for God” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Feb 17th).

“Pray not only against the power of sin, but for the power of holiness also. A wicked heart may pray against his sins, not out of any inward enmity to them, or love to holiness, but because they are troublesome guests to his conscience. His zeal is false that seems hot against sin, but is cold to holiness” William Gurnall (ref#225, Aug 26th).

“[S]inful habits make us feel guilty and defeated. The absence of Christlike character usually doesn’t have a similar effect on us, so there is less motivation to seek change in our lives. We need to work at ensuring that our commitment to holiness is a commitment to God, not to our own self-esteem. When we sin we are more vexed at the lowering of our self-esteem than we are grieved at God’s dishonor” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p149).

“God, being God, cannot simply forgive sin” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Feb 17th).

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GRACE

“[O]ur hearts are so like a tinderbox and sparks are so plentiful, we need to use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze. Satan can climb housetops and enter prayer closets. Even if we could shut out that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace prevents it” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Jan 17th PM).

“Satan does not tempt God’s children, not because they have sin in them, but because they have grace in them. Had they no grace, the devil would not disturb them. Where he has possession all is at peace. His temptations are to rob the saints of their grace” Thomas Watson (ref#225, p278).

“Satan will not often temp a believer to gross crimes: our greatest snares and sorest conflicts are usually found in things lawful in themselves, but hurtful to us by their abuse, engrossing too much of our time, or of our hearts, or somehow indisposing us for communion with the Lord” John Newton (ref#322, p156).

“Although to be tempted is a trouble, yet to consider why you are being tempted is a comfort. Godly temptation causes the increase of grace” Thomas Watson (ref#225, p278).

“If we would make peace with the world, the world would let us alone; if we could be content to walk in the ways of sin, Satan would give us no disturbance; but because grace has rescued us from his dominion, and the love of Jesus constrains us to live to him alone, therefore the enemy, like a lion robbed of his prey, roars against us. He roars, but he cannot devour; he plots and rages, but he cannot prevail; he disquiets, but he cannot destroy” John Newton (ref#322, p96-97).

“Deceit of the mind is carried on by degrees, little by little. We are first drawn away from watchfulness, then from obedience. We are drawn away from watchfulness by overconfidence. We are often drawn away from obedience by the abuse of grace” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p65).

It is easier to sin and then ask forgiveness than to resist temptation in the first place. “We abuse grace when we think we can sin and then receive forgiveness. We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the compassion and mercy of God to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p65).

“Christ succors the tempted. [W]hen a soul is most assaulted, it shall be most assisted” Thomas Watson (ref#225, p278).

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GOD’S GRACE

“God’s grace forgives! God’s grace redeems! God’s grace restores” Bob Kauflin (ref#199, p134).

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa 57:15 ESV).

“Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ says the LORD, and I will heal him” (Isa 57:17-19 ESV).

“He hates your sins, and He will follow your wanderings with His chastising rod; but He loves you, beholding you in the Beloved, fully and freely accepted in the glorious righteousness of Jesus” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Aug 19th).

“Whenever God punishes the sins of true believers, he does so with wholesome moderation. God has nothing else in view than to correct the vices of his children so that, having thoroughly purged them of sin, he may restore them anew to his favor and friendship” John Calvin (ref#164, Mar 5th).

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift” (2 Cor 9:15 ESV)!

“He who can go to Gethsemane and Calvary and come away with slight views of the evil nature of sin must be blind indeed” William S. Plumer (ref#358, p4).

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GOD’S ROD AND HIS MERCY

“’I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD’” (Ezek 16:62-63 ESV).

“Believers will never experience the wrath of God that they deserve. Though they do feel his discipline, such discipline is the act of a loving Father, not an angry Judge. The rod and stripes may be terribly painful, but they are used with love. God’s lovingkindness is not taken away from those who believe” John Calvin (ref#164, Mar 5th).

“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him” (2 Sam 7:14-15 ESV).

“There is hope for your future, declares the LORD . . .For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD” (Jer 31:17,20 ESV).

“All the tenderness, deep affection, acute sympathy, or true fidelity that you ever find or enjoy in the creature dwells in God” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 16th).

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” (Col 2:13 ESV).

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JOYOUS CONFESSION

“Trusting in God to meet our needs breaks the power of sin’s promise to make us happier” John Piper (ref#220, p247).

“Every time you desire to do and choose to do what is right in God’s eyes, you celebrate the grace that is yours in Christ Jesus” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 17th).

“’Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever’ (Ps 73:25-26). These are the words of a man who learned the secret to contentment. When you are satisfied with the Giver, because you have found in him the life you were looking for, you are freed from the ravenous quest for satisfaction that is the discouraging existence of so many people. Yes, it is true that Your heart will rest only ever when it has found its rest in him” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Jan 6th).

“Sin will rob you of happiness and joy and will give you a sense of condemnation because sin always ultimately breaks fellowship with God and therefore immediately casts us off from the source of all our blessedness. It is no use saying you want to walk with God and then deliberately sinning. The one thing that matters is fellowship with God” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Oct 1st).

“The conscience only retains its tenderness and purity by a constant and immediate confession; the heart can only maintain its felt peace with God as it is perpetually sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. The soul, kept thus beneath the cross, preserves its high tone of spirituality unimpaired, amid all the harmful influences by which it is surrounded” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Dec 2nd).

“Sin separates. But sin immediately confessed, mourned over, and forsaken brings God and the soul together in sweet, close, and holy fellowship. Praise Him for any evidence that sin does not have entire dominion” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Nov 6th).

“God’s love is ‘an ocean without shores or bottom’” Dane Ortland (ref#382, p192).

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CONFESSION

“God commands all men to repent. Christians have enough to repent of daily” Edward Payson (ref#333, p328).

“[O]ur transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities” (Isa 59:12 ESV):

“Those who have been forgiven much love much. [T]he extent to which we realize and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and the extent to which we realize the total forgiveness and cleansing from those sins, will determine the measure of our love to God” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p126).

“People who cover over their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy” (Prov 28:13 NLT).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV).

“We must by faith in God’s Word lay hold on the fact that we have died to the reign of sin and are now alive to God, under His reign of grace. Unless we do this we will find ourselves seeking to pursue holiness by the strength of our own wills, not by the grace of God. God has given us all the resources we need to pursue holiness” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p77).

“We no longer live in the realm of sin” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p71).

“Every person in the world who is a true believer has died to sin. We are not to ‘die more and more unto sin.’ We cannot possibly die to sin any more than we have. [W]e died to sin through our union with Christ. When Christ died to sin, we died to sin also” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p64-65).

“Lord, like the publican I stand,

And lift my heart to Thee;

Thy pardoning grace, O God, command,

Be merciful to me.

I smite upon my anxious breast,

O’erwhelmed with agony;

O save my soul by sin oppressed,

Be merciful to me.

My guilt, my shame, I all confess,

I have no hope nor plea

But Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

Be merciful to me.

Here at Thy cross I still would wait,

Nor from its shelter flee,

But Thou, O God, in mercy great,

Art merciful to me.”

(LORD, LIKE THE PUBLICAN I STAND,

Words: by Thomas Raffles, Music: “Avondale,” by Charles H. Gabriel).

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REPENTANCE AND MY HEART

“Do not let my heart incline to any evil” (Ps 141:4 ESV).

“We pray, ‘Lord, forgive me my sins’ without getting specific and thus deceive ourselves into thinking we have ‘confessed and been forgiven’ when we have not. True confession of sin follows heart-felt repentance of specifically identified sins. And because the problem is in us, that can’t be done without the Spirit’s help” Carol J. Ruvolo (ref#228, p82).

“[W]e must not only correct outward actions but that those must begin with the heart; for though in the opinion of men we appear to change our life for the better, yet we will make little progress if our heart is not changed” John Calvin (ref#164, April 20th).

“[T]he natural product of the heart is changed by the Holy Ghost, when this natural love of sin is cast out, then takes place that change that the Word of God calls ‘repentance’” J.C. Ryle (ref#363, p35).

“The heart of a saint that comes near to God is pained at the memory of old sins; and together with a present sweetness of Divine love, there is a sort of anguish at the thoughts of past iniquities” Isaac Watts (ref#333, p257).

“As every sin has the more need of pardon by how much the greater it is, so God will have the more glory in pardoning it by how much the greater it is” Joseph Caryl (ref#333, p171).

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REPENTANCE

“[P]eople experience the love of God in terms of sin, condemnation, and loss and what God has done about it” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332 p525).

“[R]epentance embraces a change in the whole man, including his inclinations, purposes, and works. The works of men are visible, but the root of them is concealed. So the root must first be changed so that afterward it may yield fruitful works. We must first wash from the mind all uncleanness and conquer wicked inclinations so that outward testimonies may be added afterward. If any man boasts that he has changed and yet lives as he did before, it will be vain boasting for both conversion of the heart and change of life are necessary” John Calvin (ref#164, April 20th).

The road to repentance is godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow is developed when we focus on the true nature of sin as an offense against God rather than something that makes us feel guilty. Sin is an affront to God’s holiness, it grieves His Holy Spirit, and it wounds afresh the Lord Jesus Christ. It also gratifies Satan, the archenemy of God. Dwelling on the true nature of sin leads us to godly sorrow, which in turn leads us to repentance.

“Having come to repentance, however, we must by faith lay hold of the cleansing blood of Christ, which alone can cleanse our conscience. In fact, it is faith in Christ and the assurance of the efficacy of His cleansing blood that leads us to repentance” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p204-205).

“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p15).

“I am elected to repent” Richard Baxter (ref#333, p195).

“[W]ithout repentance there is no salvation” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Dec 24th).

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CHOOSING WRATH

“Vessel of clay! He who made thee has a right to destroy; far from seeking thy destruction, He labours to avert it. He menaces in mercy; and, if thou perishes, thou are self-destroyed” Francios Fenelon (ref#333, p244).

“They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me” (Hosea 7:14-15 ESV).

“The reason why sinners die, is not because there is no mercy for them in God, nor because Jesus Christ is either unable or unwilling to save them, but because they are not willing to come up to the terms on which the salvation is offered. He would, but they would not. He was willing to save them, but they were not willing to be saved by Him; this they may thank themselves for” Matthew Henry (ref#333, p252).

“[D]ominated by their own personal cravings, they shall receive a moral twist which will cause them to believe that which is fictitious. [H]aving set a high value upon this present age [they have] come to love it” (2 Tim 4:4,9 Wuest).

“The wrath of God is not declared against unrepentant sinners merely because of the sins they have committed, but because, when called to repent, they chose to continue in resistance, repeating the sins of the past in defiance of the light given them” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p62).

“[I]f we go on sinning willfully after having received a full knowledge of the truth, no longer for sins does there remain a sacrifice, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which is about to be devouring the adversaries” (Heb 10:26-27 Wuest).

“In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD” (2 Chron 28:22 ESV).

“None can come to Jesus except the Father draws them. Yet sinners do not perish because they cannot come, but because they will not come” John Berridge (ref#333, p280).

The cross reveals sin for what it is and pronounces doom on the whole world. Only CHRIST’s death reconciles me to God. Believe in CHRIST or suffer GOD’s wrath. There is only two choices. (ref#189, Feb 21st).

“God is infinitely compassionate and infinitely ready to forgive so that it ought to be ascribed exclusively to our unbelief if we do not obtain pardon from him” John Calvin (ref#382, p160).