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Text: Psalm 32:1-2; Colossians 1:13-14; 1 John 1:9
Message for February 17, 2002
by Pastor Glenn Layne

First Message in the Series:
THE FREEDOM OF THE CROSS

The Freedom of Forgiveness

A European king-something of a tyrant-once mused, "God will forgive me of my sins. That's His job!"

Sometimes we can start to view God as that great sin-processor in the sky. We feed Him our sins, and miracle of miracles, out pops forgiveness.

Could it be that we have lost something of the wonder of being forgiven-of the enormity of the glory of a holy and just God regarding as righteous, we vigorous sinner?

I'm sure I know the reason why we have lost something of the awe of forgiveness. It is because we have lost much of our dread of sin. According to the Barna Research group, over 2/3 of professing Christians take they cue about right and wrong from the prevailing trends in culture as opposed to the unchanging word of God. Sin does not figure large in our thinking.

What ever happened to sin? We have forgotten that there is a holy God in heaven that hates sin. We have forgotten that sin is the essential problem of humanity. We have forgotten that sin is so enormously damaging to human souls that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, had to die on a cross to deal with sin.

Now, chocolate cake is absolutely the only thing that that we universally call sinful-just as we grab a fork and dig in.

Instead of sin, we speak of "dysfuntionalities." It seems that everyone has a syndrome, but nobody has sin. (My favorite is the person who claimed to have OPD: "Obnoxious Personality Disorder.")

Or we admit our sin, but then absolve ourselves with relative comparisons. Sure, I have sin, but I'm no Charles Manson. Sure I have sin, but "Within us all is both the potential for great good and great evil."

With sin shrunk down to such a manageable size, it's no surprise that the wonder of forgiveness from God has been downsized accordingly.

Perhaps we would appreciate both the magnitude of sin and the corresponding wonder of forgiveness if we could only re-active our conscience. The conscience is a funny thing. It's a God-implanted reality in our hearts, and sometimes a bad conscience is a good thing: it alerts us to spiritual danger. But when ignored or abused, it starts to bring back faulty data. Someone has said that the conscience is more like a skylight that a light bulb: it allows light to shine through only to the extent that we allow light to reach it.

Back in 1984, an Avianca Airlines jet crashed on approach to Madrid. Investigators concluded that the crash was totally avoidable. Several minutes before impact, a computerized voice warned the pilots, in English (which is the language of international air flight) "Pull up! Pull up!" An annoyed pilot said on the tape recovered from the so-called "black box", "Shut up, Gringo!" and turned off the warning system. Moments later the plane slammed into a mountainside, killing all on board.

What a parable. I suspect that that wasn't the first time that that system had annoyed that pilot. My guess is that he'd shut it off many times with impunity. As well, we can shut off our conscience again and again and think that all will be well even as we move inevitably toward our own mountainside disaster.

No, sometimes a hurting conscience is a good thing. Hitting the wall of pain is a good thing if it trains us in God-pleasing, soul-satisfying ways.

I want to explore this today by at looking at three passages. The first is Psalm 32:1-2.

Sin, Forgiveness and "Blessedness"

Psalm 32:1-2

1Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Psalm 32 is a Psalm of David, and while we cannot be sure, many students of Scripture speculate that it was written at around the time of the lowest chapter in David's life-when he committed adultery with the wife of one of his generals, and then arraigned to put the man, Uriah, in harm's way so he could marry the woman and try to hide the fact that he'd fathered a child out of wedlock.

Through a series of events that we don't have to go into here and now, it finally hit David just how far off track he'd gone. And it hit him hard. It's interesting to notice what David does not say.

q David says, I've got a problem, and the problem is NOT:

Disease: "My DNA and my genes have made me this way; I guess my problem is inborn. I suppose if anybody is really at fault, it's God. Yes, that's it! God made me this way!"

Victimization: "You know, I grew up poor in Bethlehem. I had to watch the sheep when I was just a boy. Anyway, that woman just threw herself at me. I mean, just taking a bath on the roof where I could see her. Yeah, I'm the victim of that vamp. I'm only human you know."

"Feeling guilty": "You know, my problem is this repressed, ancient, guilt-laden, Middle Eastern society. If we all just didn't have these hang-ups about sex and monogamy, if we just we weren't irrationally attached to the outmoded idea of traditional marriage, I wouldn't feel this way. Yeah, the real problem here is my feelings. I gotta get liberated. Maybe a little Freudian psychoanalysis would help."

Self-esteem: "I only do what I do because I don't feel good about myself. I try to validate my masculinity by sleeping with other women, and by engaging in competition with other men. You see, I never did like myself. I had these big, good-looking brothers who tormented me. They called me the runt and made fun of me. Yeah, that's it. If I'd only loved me more, everything would be OK."

q That's not what he did. Instead, David's identified the problem as a problem with sin.

1Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Stop the psychobabble: the problem is sin. We have a heart of rebellion against God and His ways.

q God's answer to his problem was not therapy, self-acceptance, or good feelings: His answer is forgiveness.
q David hit the wall of ultimate reality: in his heart and in his behavior, he had offended an almighty, holy God. This God, who in love has prescribed certain boundaries, says to us, "Pass this point, and life will hurt. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but given time, it will hurt."
q You see, God declares something sinful when (1) it is contrary to His will and (2) because His will is for our benefit.
q Down in vs. 5, David described what happened: "Then I acknowledged my sin to You (God) and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord'-and You forgave the guilt of my sin."
q And God, ever gracious, ever anxious to forgive took his sin and popped it like a soap bubble: poof! Gone.
q The outcome of it all: blessedness.

1Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

"Blessed"-that is, David says, "I was outside of the circle of God's favor. But now, I'm forgiven, and I'm home again. I was outside the circle of God's peace. But now I'm forgiven, and I'm at peace with Him. I was outside the circle of integrity and wholeness. But now I am forgiven, and I am whole again. I'm BLESSED."

The second passage is Colossians 1:13-14.

What the New Testament Teaches (Colossians 1:13-14)

13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

In the New Testament, we are told that all forgiveness flows from the grace of God made real by the death of Jesus on the cross. Whether it was David in 1002 BC or Glenn in 2002 AD, we find our forgiveness in the death of the Messiah, the Lamb of God, on the cross.

For he has rescued us…

q Why would I need rescuing? "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). I need rescuing because I am a sinner-a vigorous and productive sinner at that!
q Who needs rescuing? Everybody: "For all have sinned…"
q Who does the rescuing? "He has rescued us…" We cannot rescue ourselves from sin. We cannot climb out of this pit. We cannot clean ourselves up, straighten out, or get "clear". We are stuck with a capital S. The Triune God must rescue us: the Father by sending the Son; the Son by dying for us; the Spirit by applying the benefits of Christ's death to us by grace.
q Where were we before being rescued? For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness… In the domain of darkness, you can't see. That's why it dark! You are confused morally, intellectually and psychologically. You are messed up. You are a wreck. Maybe a nice respectable wreck, but a spiritual wreck nonetheless.
q How does He bring us from "the domain of darkness" to the Kingdom of the Son? This passage is not explicit, but the testimony of the whole of Scripture is that He does this on the basis of the sacrifice paid by Jesus on the cross. We cross from the realm of darkness, death and sin to the realm of light, life and righteousness by simple, clinging, trusting faith in the benefits Christ purchased for you on that cross. And while we are once saved, that process of salvation is continuous in the sense that we continue to walk with God as we keep on exercising the same kind of faith-simple, clinging, trusting faith-throughout our lives.
q What is redemption? The passage speaks of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

"Redemption" is a key Biblical word. It means "rescue purchased at a great price." In the Son of God, we have been rescued at a great price-the price of His death on the cross.

The awfulness of sin can only be seen in contrast to the wonder of the price of our salvation; the wonder of our redemption can only be fully appreciated when we consider the sinfulness of sin.

q What happens when God forgives us of our sins? The Greek word Paul uses here is aphesis, which means, "to let go". The basic idea of God's forgiveness of us is that He lets go of the charges against us. But it's not a simple act. His letting go is based on actually dealing justly with the gravity of our sin. Sin is serious business. He still punishes our sin-but He punishes our sin in the body of His Son on His cross. With our sin's price paid there, He graciously "lets us go."

The third last passage is 1 John 1:9.

Sin, Sins, and Continuous Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

When we come to Jesus to be saved, He saves us from sin-that within us that produces our individual sins-as well as all our individual sins. He deals with sin, and sins. But what about now?

What about Christians who fall into sin? What about those of us who feel trapped by the foul things that still wander the dark hallways of our souls? In a sense, that's what this whole pre-Easter (you might even say Lenten) series is about. But we can make a good start today.

1 John 1:9 is specifically addressed to Christians. It tells us that God remains gracious to His children. It's the beginnings of the map out of the wilderness. It should be our daily discipline, our lifesaver when in distress-when we know we've blown it big time (and who here has never done that?)

q What is confession? That's the starting point. It was the same back for David in Psalm 32: it means saying to God, from the depth of your being, "You're right, Lord. I have sinned, and I'm a sinner. There's no excuse. The buck stops here. I agree with you-that I am in the wrong. No argument here."

The term "confess" means "to say the same thing." We confess when we say the same thing that God says about our sins. God says, "That, my child is sin. That, my daughter, sent My Son to the cross. That, my son, cost His blood." We confess when we as well see what the Puritans called the utter sinfulness of sin.

q The passage says, "…He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." God is faithful-reliable-to forgive us when we come clean. He is also called "just"-that is right in so doing. How can a just God forgive sin and sins? Again, remember that He does not simply wave a magic wand and say, "You are forgiven." He takes the sinfulness of sin very seriously, and places that sin and its consequences on the body and soul of Jesus on the cross. Those are easy words to say, but let it hit your heart. Your sin, to Jesus' body and soul, on the cross. I will never get over the wonder of it all.
q Now here's something really beautiful: Not only does He forgive, He also purifies or cleanses us from our sin. "…He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." In forgiveness, God gives us a new start; in His work of purification, He equips us to start over clean. God does not just want to say, "You're forgiven." He wants to work in our hearts so that we are set free to sin that sin no more.
q He wants to bring us into that place of joy…that state of "blessedness" that David spoke about. That place of spiritual satisfaction in the goodness of God. That is that place where we receive forgiveness…and we enjoy forgiveness. Where we're fully satisfied and live in the realm of God's peace.

Into the Realm of "Blessedness"

Jesus died to set us free from sin…and sin's power over us. We'll continue this over the next several weeks, as we look at the freedom to forgive, the freedom from deception, the crucial difference between forgiveness and the true healing of the soul and what it means to be part of the fellowship of the forgiven.

Jesus died to set us free. I believe that the Lord wants us to grasp this truth in more than a two-dimensional, flat words on paper way.

Many people here today are in bondage. Bondage to sinful habits, modes of thought, ways of life. God wants to set you free. He has provided the way-the cross of Jesus. He has told us the outcome-blessedness. And the bridge out is clear as well: honest confession and real faith.

I think God wants to meet you where you are right now and take you across that bridge. You need to experience His forgiveness in a new way, and you need to experience His cleansing in a new way. And I'm sure, now's the time.