Category: Newsletter

Introduction

Jesus Christ was seen as a controversial figure by His Contemporaries. This begins with His virgin birth and claims that He is the Son of God, and or as God. His ability to forgive people of their sins was also questioned by a section of the religious leaders. This thesis discusses the power of Christ to forgive sins.

You have been forgiven

“And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house” (Luk 5:20-24).

The religious leaders were partly right because it is only God who forgives sins. God says that “..for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer 31:34). Where they got it wrong is the fact that the Father has vested His power and authority in His Son (Mat 28:18) to act in His behalf on earth. If Jesus claims to be God, it is not blasphemy because Paul writes that Jesus was in the form of God in Heaven, so it was not robbery for Him to consider Himself equal with God. But He decided to make Himself of no reputation, taking upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man (Php 2:6-7). Jesus, therefore, has the power to forgive sin on earth.

The devil said to Jesus on the mount that all power is delivered unto him (i.e. the devil) so he can give it to whomsoever he wishes to give them to (Luke 4:6). In the same way, Jesus, having received all power from His Father, has given it to His disciples to forgive sins. He tells them that whosoever sins they forgive, they shall be forgiven them (Joh 20:23). The leadership of the church on earth has the power to affirm God´s forgiveness the offending Christians and all who truly profess the name of Christ. However, the power to send people into the hellfire rests solely with God.

Assurances of forgiveness

All people who have accepted Christ as their Master and Savior need to be assured of their forgiveness so as to serve God with an uncondemned conscience. The guilt of our past sins could hinder and damage our relationship with God. It has the power to obstruct us from walking confidently and graciously with God. For this reason, when we accept Christ´s finished work on the cross, His blood, through the Eternal Spirit, purges our conscience from dead works so that we can honestly and freely serve God (Heb 9:14).

The Apostle writes that Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and have their sins covered (Psa 32:2, Rom 4:7). John also affirmatively states that our sins are forgiven us for the sake of His own name (1Joh 2:12). With this assurances, we ought to gladly serve God and appreciate Him for His forgiveness. In order to stay clean with God, we are advised not to sin, but He has given us an Advocate to act on our behalf should we ever sin after we have been redeemed (1Joh 2:1). Sin must be confessed because “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Pro 28:13).

Conclusion

God has forgiven us of all our sins. He holds nothing against us because we have genuinely accepted Christ as our personal  Savior and that we have placed our hopes in Him. Our consciences have been cleansed with the blood of Jesus, so we need to stay away from sin. Forgiveness is available throughout our walk with Christ. If you have fallen, arise, ask for forgiveness and move on with your life.

Prayer: May the Lord help us to stay pure for Him at all times. In the name of Christ Jesus. AMEN!

 

Introduction

It was discussed in our previous newsletter that Adam fell because his lust for the forbidden fruit was activated by the devil. He fell out of the grace of God but God did not give him up to perpetual destruction. This piece of writing continues to discuss the scandalous love that was demonstrated towards Adam and the entire human race.

God Runs After Adam

God continued to look for Adam even after his fall so that He might restore him to his formal relationship with Him (Gen 3:7-23). Lucifer had deceived a third of the angels and had proceeded to deceive Adam and his wife. The souls of men were so precious to God that He would not allow the enemy to take hold of them as he did to the fallen angels. Because of their disobedience to God, Adam and his wife were destined to die but God moved in immediately to redeem their lives with the life a beast (Gen 3:21). That is the beast whose skin was used for their covering.

Driven from the Tree of Life

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen 3:21-24).

The blood of beasts was used to cleanse men of their sins because almost all things were by the law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood, there are no remissions of sins (Heb 9:22). The man was driven from the tree of life after their fall because, if they ate of it, they would live in their condition of reduced glory forever, but God had a perfect plan of salvation for them.

God went to the man and engaged him with a heartwarming conversation. It is believed that God said to man, “Yes, you have sinned, I pardon you, come with me for I still love you. What exactly happened, Adam? Tell me”. God would not allow the devil to possess man that He had created in His own image and likeness. God still loved man though he had fallen. David writes, who is man that thou are mindful of (Psa 8:4, Heb 2:6). The love of God towards man should amaze everyone. For the sake of love, God clothed Adam and his wife with His own righteousness because their effort to cover their nakedness was not enough. Our own effort to deal with our sins and to gain God´s favor would not add up.

Imputation of sin and righteousness

The sin of Adam was automatically imputed unto all those who were born of women until the coming of Christ. Adam´s sin was pardoned in the Garden of Eden but Adam´s sins remained on all men, as it is written:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”(Rom 5:12-14).

Thus, Adam´s sin was imputed unto all men until Christ was sacrificed to redeem us from sin and death. The obedience of one man, Christ Jesus, has also conferred His righteousness to all those who believe (Rom 5:15-19). Our righteousness is not of ourselves but of Christ (Jer 23:6, 1Co 1:30). It is written that Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness (Gal 3:6, Rom 4:3, Jas 2:23). Since we have received the blessing of Abraham (Gal 3:14), God imputes the righteousness which comes by faith unto us. We are blessed because God imputes righteousness without works on us (Rom 4:6). Also, because of His Son, and by virtue of our faith in Him, God does not impute sin on us (Rom 4:8) but has declared us righteous.

Conclusion

People who do not believe or receive the salvific work of Christ are still under Adamic sin and, therefore, God imputes sin on them, even the sin that they have not themselves committed. But those who put their faith in God and accept the completed work of Christ, God imputes righteousness without works on them. It is, therefore, imperative to abandon our own righteousness and receive the righteousness that comes by putting our faith in Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Lord, may you help us to abandon our struggles for our own righteousness and help our unbelief so that we could receive your finished work and your righteousness, In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.