SIN & FORGIVENESS

Sin is Universal

Everyone commits sin sometimes. There is no one in the world who does not sin in something. Sin is quite often not willful - not deliberate, but the result of a slip when we are off our guard. This fact that sin is universal - that everyone commits it - runs all through the Bible. For example, Paul says in Romans 3:1 0, "There is no one righteous, not even one." He says also in the 23rd verse of the same chapter: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". And then in I John 1:8 we read: "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us".

The difference between 'Sin' and 'Sins': The Bible, and Paul in particular, differentiates between 'sin' and 'sins'. It notes the difference between a) someone who is living in SIN, that is, living in total disregard of and disobedience to God; living in rebellion against God, and b) someone who SINS, who slips, who errs, who makes mistakes, even though that person still loves and serves God and has committed his/her life to Christ. It was with reference to SIN as rebellion against God that Paul said, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord' (Romans 6:23). When John wrote: "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us..." he was referring to errors and mistakes made by Christians. John was writing or speaking to people who were believers.

What is Sin?: We turn now to this question. In seeking an answer or answers to this question, we must say something about the nature and character of the God in Whom we believe, and the God who created us. God is just. God is good. God loves all humanity. God is love. God is Holy. This fact of the holiness of God has quite a range bf meaning, but for our purpose here it means that God is pure, (morally perfect). Sin therefore is anything, whether in word, action or in thought, that offends, that goes against the goodness, the love, the justice, and the holiness of God. If we do anything that is hurtful, or harmful, or unkind, or uncharitable to anyone, it is a sin because we are hurting someone whom God loves. If I do anything that is damaging to myself it is also a sin because I am hurting someone whom God loves. God has given us, in the Bible, commandments and rules and guidelines to obey and to follow; if we are disobedient to God, then also we sin against Him. It must also be noted that the Bible teaches us that not only do we sin when we do what is hurtful or harmful or harmful or wrong, but we sin too when we do NOT do the good things we ought to do.
Why clo Humans Sin?: This is not an easy question to answer. We might sum up what answer we find in the Bible this way.
"We sin because of the evil influence that has come down to us from the past. From the beginning of the world until now, human beings have sinned; and we sin too because in everyone of us there is the tendency, the inclination to go our own way; to do what we like; to do our own thing".

FORGIVENESS

God's Offer of Forgiveness: Since all have sinned; since all of us are sinners, and since sin is an offence against God, it follows that humanity stands guilty; humanity stands condemned before God. How is this situation to be changed? The teaching of the New Testament is that God, against whom we have sinned, offers forgiveness of sins because of His great love for us, in and through the life and teaching and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to save us, that He came and died for our sins. The New Testament talks about Gospel - which means GOOD NEWS. This Good News is about SALVATION and Salvation involves the forgiveness of our sins, a full and free pardon from God for all our sins, and bringing us into a right relationship with God.

TOP

Forgiveness and the Cross of Calvary

The Bible clearly connects the forgiveness of our sins by God with the death of our Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. The Bible states in varying ways that we receive forgiveness because Jesus died on the Cross. Now the question arises: How does the death of Christ on the cross allow forgiveness of sins? There are many theories, which clearly came out of the bible.
1) A Sacrifice for us: In the Old Testament times many sacrifices were offered in the Temple of Jerusalem. Jesus seems to have accepted sacrifice as a divine institution,, which taught men and women something true and important about their relationship to God. What is more, our Lord seems to have thought of His own death as a sacrifice, as though He were offered on the cross as a sacrificial victim to bear away the sins of the people. At the Last Supper He said, "This is My Body of the Covenant, which is poured out for many". (Mark 14:24). To think of God offering His Son as a sacrifice for our sins is probably still the deepest and most penetrating way of thinking about what happened at Calvary. Someone once wrote:
"What cloth it mean, this wood so stained with blood,
This free without a root that bears such fruits;
This tree without a leaf, all leaved with grief?
Thou fool, I cannot miss, the meaning this, His Sacrifice".

2) Revelation of the Love of God: Another way to look at how the cross works forgiveness for our sin is this: Jesus is One with the Father. Nowhere in the New Testament is there any suggestion of a contrast between the love of Jesus and the wrath of God; nowhere is there any suggestion that Christ had to suffer to change God's attitude towards sinners, from one of condemnation to one of forgiveness. If it was Christ's love for sinners that brought Him to the Cross, it was also God's love that caused Him to give His Son. Therefore in the cross of Christ, God is telling us that He loves us and that He wants us to respond to His love; He wants us to be His children.

When this comes home to us, and we come to God believing this to be so, we receive forgiveness for our sins. (This coming to God, this acceptance of what Jesus says about the love of God), and the consequent commitment of our lives to Him, is what is meant by FAITH in God and FAITH in Christ.

The Place of Repentance and Forgiveness: Now as we receive God's forgiveness; as we come to Him, we must be sorry for the things we did that were not right; we must be willing to enter upon a new life with Him. This is what the New Testarne,-it calls REPENTANCE. Repentance and Forgiveness go together. To REPENT means to CHANGE YOUR MIND: to make a right about-turn, to turn in a new direction. It means too to be sorry for the past, to be sorry for your sins. It means that you now realize what an awful thing it was to have been rebellious and disobedient to your Heavenly Father who loves you so much.

Repentance and Forgiveness are brought out clearly in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The younger son faced his terrible condition in a pig-sty and had a change of mind. He decided to go back home. He said "I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight". Not only did he resolve to do this, but he ACTUALLY did so. He started back home .and his father joyfully welcomed him and had a feast to mark the occasion.

Forgiveness is experienced in and through a personal meeting with, and relationship with Jesus Christ. Having come to know Him through Christ, and having experienced
His gracious forgiveness, we embark upon a relationship of love and service to Him; we enter into a new life. The Bible uses various terms for this: it says we are now RECONCILEI) TO GOD; we are JUSTIFIED; we enjoy PEACE WITH GOD; we receive the gift of ETERNAL LIFE; we are now on our way to Heaven; we are saved, are being saved, and shall be saved; God's presence and Spirit abide with us. Along this new path we will still slip and make mistakes, for we never become morally and spiritually perfect in this world. But God pardons our sin and failings, and what is more, we will, by grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, overcome our weaknesses more and more and become better people each day.

TOP