Forgiven of ALL our Sins

Based on my Sunday message at the 55+ community: --- If Jesus did not die and then rise from the dead – then NOTHING anyone can say about God’s view of sin, forgiveness, heaven, and hell – None of it can be true. Of the many Biblical texts for the resurrection of Jesus, here is a brief excerpt from the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians: Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;  and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain . . . . your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15: 12-19) Listen! If you and I do not have confidence in God’s truthfulness  forgiving AND FORGETTING our sins because of our faith in the sacrificial death of His Son as payment for our sins, then we have nothing to look forward to after our death but an eternity of anguish in the lake of fire. God’s faithfulness to His promises is not an inconsequential subject. Let me share with you what I would like to think is an extreme example, but I don’t think it is too far off the path that many Christians travel. I copied this from a Facebook group to which I belong. This is part of what the man wrote:

-------- "Guys, I’m struggling. I don’t think I’ll be saved. In fact, I might be more assured of my damnation than my salvation. Getting to heaven seems to be the most difficult thing in this entire world. The road to heaven seems to be fraught with not only outward crosses, but inward trials. By that I mean the struggle with sin, the uncertainty of grace, the easiness to lose the state of grace, despair and discouragement mounting up and creeping in . . . . "I don’t understand how anyone cannot be discouraged at the prospect of these things. Heaven is so uncertain to reach and to get there takes the most arduous and strenuous effort. . . .  "If this is the requirement for heaven, then I know assuredly that I will perish. How can no one be discouraged to hear the words of St. Benedict Joseph Labre when he says, “Meditate on the horrors of Hell which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin.” The writer concluded: “If that doesn’t bring despondency, then I don’t know what will.” This man’s terrible predicament in the Slough of Despond has troubled me since I read it last week. Here is someone who clearly wants to please God but is convinced he can never please God. But instead of focusing on what others say about God and His mercy, he and ALL of us – should focus on what God Himself says about His mercy through the writers of Scripture. Listen! Calvary’s cross did not happen in a vacuum. It did not catch God by surprise. He did not have to implement Plan B when Jesus fell into the hands of that mob in Gethsemane, in the Roman courtyard, and finally at Golgotha’s Hill. God the Son went willingly to that cross to pay the price of death that God demands for our sins. Most assuredly, if Jesus did not die for us and then return to life, then EVERYONE would have every reason to fear death. The substitutionary death of Jesus was planned long before Adam and Eve brought sin into the human race. As St Augustine realized, the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament. And that concealment begins to unfold as early as the Books of Moses – Leviticus in particular, although we certainly can see images of the savior in the other four books of Moses as well. Here is what God the Holy Spirit had Moses write for us in Leviticus that has to do with our atonement – the covering of our sin made possible with the blood of a sacrificial animal. From the context of Leviticus 16 we learn Israel brought two sacrificial animals to Aaron, the High Priest. Starting now with verse 15: "Then [Aaron] shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil . . . and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins . . . Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the [other] live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness . . . . The [Scape]goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness." Sounds a lot like that wonderful Messianic prophecy of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, doesn’t it? "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on [Messiah] the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) And so, back to Leviticus 16. After the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the Scapegoat to transfer onto the animal ALL of the peoples’ sins, he then released it into the wilderness – never to be seen again.  That’s also a picture of God’s promise revealed to us in Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." ALL of them. The person who wrote that note I cited earlier lives in unnecessary fear that Jesus’ sacrificial death was not completely and finally sufficient to save him from eternal damnation. And I wonder how many others, perhaps even some of you reading this, live with similar and unnecessary fear of death and judgement – unnecessary because the penitent’s sins have all – ALL – all been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus’ mercy toward repentant sinners us quite remarkable and unfathomable, isn't it? Here are some examples of how He interacted with sinners: The son of man has come to save what was lost (Mt 18:11).  He has freed us from our sins by his blood (Revelation 1:5). The religious leaders of His day (and many today as well) grumbled: He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners and he eats with them (Matt 11:19). They were angry when He forgave the woman taken in adultery, telling her simply, Go and sin no more (John 8:11). The examples of his merciful encounters with sinners fill the pages of Scripture – and examples of His mercy continue to this moment as you read these words. That heart-rending note was not the first time I’d ever heard such despair rooted in the devil’s lie that God is not true to His promise of mercy.  And when I remind them of God’s mercy, their typical response is something along the lines of: “Yes, but you don’t know what I’ve done.” And I always respond: “I don’t need to know what you’ve done. All I need to know is what God has promised – and that is complete and total forgiveness for the penitent sinner. How could God make His vow any clearer?” And I remind them of St. Paul’s lament in the last verses of chapter seven of his letter to the church at Rome: For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. . . . . For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  . . . (Romans 7:15-25) Now please read carefully what he says next: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1). And then he continues in those last verses of chapter eight: "For I am CONVINCED that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now the crucial question for you and me. The vital, essential, key question: Are you convinced God loves you? Are you confident He has forgiven every single sin you have ever committed and then brought to Him in repentance and for His forgiveness? If you are not, why not? What is it about God’s mercy that you think cannot extend to someone such as you? Let me say it kindly, but also unmistakably: How dare we sit in the corner nursing our guilty conscience when the faithful, and utterly trustworthy God has said to the penitent: I forgive you? Paul wrote of Jesus’ historical and verifiable resurrection. It was precisely that resurrection that ought to prove to every Christian who struggles with the question of God’s forgiveness – Paul tells us Jesus “was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.”  In other words, God raised Jesus from the dead to prove to us He has now justified – declared us to be without guilt – those who bring their sins to Him in repentance. Please, don’t go another moment believing the devil’s lying whispers that you cannot be forgiven for what you have done. If you confess your sins, God is FAITHFUL and just to forgive those sins and to CLEANSE you of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Thanks be to God for His most merciful gift!