Grace Goodies (iii)

Today we continue with our study of the Grace of God, looking closely into the matter of the forgiveness of sins, which is part of the grace benefits we find in Christ Jesus (Psalms 103:3). Going back to the very beginning and assessing how the issue of sin came to be, we see that after the creation of Eve, both were naked and not ashamed (Genesis 2:25), they were innocent and not aware that anything was wrong with their current state. They were solely focused on God and He was the focal of their existence. After they fell to the temptation of the enemy and had eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve suddenly discovered that they were naked, were immediately ashamed (Genesis 3:7) and hid from the presence of God. This is where we see the introduction of the human conscience that begins to tell us what is wrong and what is right. It is not God who convicted Adam and Eve, if anything, we even read from the New Testament the boundaries of God’s conviction and communication in this manner: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:8-9). This is what the Holy Spirit came to convict men of; their unbelief and rejection of Jesus Chist. He did not come to recount our sins to us – it is our conscience that does that, because embedded in its systems is a database of everything that is right and everything that is wrong. This is what happened when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they moved from being innocent to being those with a voice in their subconscious that informs them of what is good and what is evil. That is why no one has an excuse standing in front of God, we cannot suddenly claim to not know how we were meant to live our lives (Romans 1:18-20).

In his letter to Timothy, apostle Paul made it clear, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2) – it is possible to harden your own conscience through constant neglect and resistance, in the same way that it is possible to train your conscience through the Word of God unto the righteousness we have in Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul called this “striving to ensure that his conscience is without offence towards God and men” (Acts 24:16); this is a good conscience, one that is wired with God’s unfailing love and available grace. This is why the apostle John wrote, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God” (1 John 3: 20-21) – because he knew by the Spirit that it is not God who condemns us, and he knew that with a growing confidence in God’s love, we can grow above some of the inclinations of the human conscience that accuse us! This is what the Scriptures say, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22) – we have to be the ones to take God at His word and draw unto Him, and He will wash our consciences clean in assurance of the sure safety and reconciliation we have in Him.

Showing us the effectivity of the High Priestly ministry of Christ Jesus, which was unlike the annual services of the Levitical priesthood, we read, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The sacrifice of the Lord was effective for all time, He did not need to keep returning on a periodical basis to atone for the sins of men, He obtained a redemption that is eternally sufficient for coverage. We are eternally forgiven, sins past, present and future, because Jesus is God Himself and He is not bound by the limitations and progression of time! The writer of Hebrews continues to note that the law and all cleansing rituals therein were only a shadow of what was coming, and that these sacrifices were not sufficient to remove the consciousness of sin as every year, men would be reminded of their sin in the time of their atonement  (Hebrews 10:1-4). But of Jesus, we read, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Yes, we have been forgiven once and for all, God is not waiting to forgive us, but this has already been done and the forgiveness of God has been sealed in our spirit by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). We now just have to work on our conscience and bring it to the same realisation. 

So yes, God has already availed the propitiation for our sins, but what happens is that sin opens a door for the enemy to gain a foothold in our lives, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:16). The truth is, sin has consequences in this life, and you will not be absolved from these even though you have eternal redemption with God. And important to note, the confession of sin is not for the sake of triggering God’s forgiveness, but it really is for the sake of stopping Satan’s accusation and legal ground in our lives; it is an act of laying hold of the forgiveness that you have in Christ Jesus and leaving him without an argument against us. We have been forgiven, it is done! Ours is to use the Word of God to train our conscience to this fact and not have it constantly accuse us on matters long resolved by God! 

Prayer

Thank you Father! In Jesus, we have justification! In Jesus, we have redemption! In Jesus, we have the eternal forgiveness of sins! We have been made right with You, we are loved unconditionally and our fate has been sealed by the Holy Spirit, unto the day of redemption! We are grateful and we bless You! In the name of Jesus, Amen!