GOD’S WORD FOR FEBRUARY 20 ~ ~ Ephesians 1:7 ~ ~ “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”
Matthew 26:28 ~ ~”This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Day 9 of fifty reasons why Christ suffered and died. “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by John Piper.
When we forgive a debt, offense or injury, we don’t require a payment for settlement. That would be the opposite of forgiveness. If repayment is made to us, for what we lost, there is no need for forgiveness. We have our due.
Forgiveness assumes grace. If I am injured by you, grace lets it go. I don’t sue you. I forgive you. Grace gives what someone doesn’t deserve. That’s why FORGIVENESS has the word GIVE in it. Forgiveness is not ‘getting” even. It is “giving” away the right to get even.
That is what God does to us when we trust Christ: “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Acts 10:43). If we believe in Christ, God no longer holds our sins against us. This is God’s own testimony in the Bible. “I, I am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake” (Isaiah 43:25), “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
But this raises a problem. We all know that forgiveness is not enough. We may only see it clearly when the injury is great – like murder or rape. Neither society nor the universe can hold together if judges (or God) simply say to every murderer and rapist, “Are you sorry? Okay. The state forgives you. You may go.” In cases like these we see that while a victim may have a forgiving spirit, the state cannot forsake justice.
So it is with God’s justice. All sin is serious, because it is against God. He is the one whose glory is injured when we ignore or disobey or blaspheme Him. His justice will no more allow him simply to set us free than a human judge can cancel all the debts that criminals owe to society. The injury done to God’s glory by our sin must be repaired so that in justice his glory shines more brightly. And if we criminals are to go free and be forgiven, there must be some dramatic demonstration that the honor of God is upheld even though former blasphemers are being set free.
That is why Christ suffered and died. “In Him we have redemption THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).
Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the root, of being forgiven. That’s why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus His life. That is why we call it just.
(In other words, God didn’t simply forgive us, because of what Christ did. The debt was actually paid — the sentence carried out – the blood spilled, satisfying Hebrews 9:22: “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” (forgiveness). God didn’t just say, “forget it”. He said “PAID” or, as Christ said on the cross, “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19:30).)
OH! How precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this.