FORGIVEN!

Ephesians 1:7

August 17, 2003

I believe in the forgiveness of sins. If we were not able to possess this one facet of the Christian faith then everything else about Christianity would become worthless to believe in. We could take hold of believing in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. No problem. We could comprehend the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the communion of the saints as a universal church but if we cannot believe in the forgiveness of sins then the whole Christian faith is worthless and not worth believing.

But I say to you today that the forgiveness of sins is based not on my deserving status before God, not on my future potential as a human being and certainly not based on what I can offer to God but6 simply based on God’s great mercy and love. It is by grace that I am saved.

And today, Jesus Christ wants you to realize the forgiveness of sins in a very real way. He wants you to understand what it means to be forgiven. Too many Christians have struggled all of their lives trying to serve God and never know what it is to be free. Galatians 5:1 tells us to “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” In Jesus own words, “He who the Son has set free is free indeed.” (John 8:36)

That shadow of guilt and that cloud of shame need no longer be a part of your life. Jesus Christ loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. (Rev. 1:5) Today is your independence day. Today is the day that the Lord wants to see you loosened from those chains of sin.

Brothers and sisters, I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

When I was a young teenager at the United Holiness family camp in St. Louis, I tasted forgiveness. I broke a trailer window by kicking a playground ball in the camping area. It sailed wide left and into Mrs. Lechty’s trailer. I was shocked into near tears. I was so sorry and so regretful for what had happened. She not only forgave me, but did not charge me for the window. She paid the price herself. She gave me mercy, even though I did not deserve mercy. She did the Christian thing, though, and forgave me. But the right thing would have been to make me pay for the window. However, she didn’t do that. She took care of the costs herself.

That is just a small 5X7 picture of the kind of love God has for us who have offended him greatly. There are some important truths about the forgiveness of sin that we need to understand today.

1. All of us are born in sin.

None of us are born perfect. None of us are born into perfect homes or have perfect families. Christian parents do not begat Christian children. Each one of us is born with sin and are free moral agents who make choices to either do right or do wrong.

True, there are some who do more right than others. But the bottom line is that we are all born with a sin problem. Noone is perfect. Any one who thinks they are are only kidding themselves. Through Adam in the garden of Eden we all sinned. Even one small foul up proves our sinfulness.

2. God hates sin.

In Proverbs 6:16-19 the writer lists seven items of sin that God hates. Sin is detestable to God. He can’t stand sin because He is a holy God and His holiness is offended by sin.

Sin provokes God to anger. Over and over in the Old Testament we see where the Israelites who were supposed to be God’s people would sin- blatantly fall into Baal worship and all sorts of other sexual sin.

This angered God because he had warned the people over and over. He even disciplined them over and over, and yet they still continued on their path of destruction.

God promised in Isaiah 13:11 to punish those who sin. “I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.” Those who sin deserve nothing less than God’s full wrath. That is why Paul writes in Romans 1:18- “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

3. We all have knowledge about sin.

The Bible tells us that through the written law (that is, God’s written words) and through our conscience we instinctively know right from wrong. And those first crucial five chapters of Romans clearly defines that no one on earth can stand and point a finger at God and say “I didn’t know.” Each person will have to give an account for what they know to be the truth and what they did with that truth. The law, whether it is the written word of God or written on our conscience was created to restrain us from sin and point us to God.

Let no man or woman say that they didn’t know any better. We all have sinned and fallen short of the God’s holiness.

4. No one can cleanse themselves from sin.

God tells his own people in Jeremiah 2:22- “Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me.”

That word soda can also be interpreted as lye. We know what lye does- it eats away everything. However, even lye or the strongest soda cleaners and detergents you can find cannot cleanse your heart of sin.

5. No one can atone for sin.

There is no one on earth who can appease God for sins. None of us could approach God because of our filthy state. Paul writes to the Philippian Church, that his righteousness is as filthy rags. Micah 6:7 informs us that even our best sacrifices cannot do the atonement for our sins.

Hebrews 9:9 points out that “...the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.” They were only in place until the time of the new order.

Mankind, despite all of his great potential and greatness as God’s greatest creation cannot do what desperately needs to be done in his life. He can build great monuments to himself and even to God. He can feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Mankind can do all sorts of wonderful things but he cannot purchase his own freedom from sin. He cannot make atonement for sins because he is the product of his own sinful self.

But God’s great mercy has provided a way of forgiveness for those languishing in sin’s dreadfulness. God has given us hope.

6. God has opened a fountain for sin.

Zechariah 13:1- “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

I love the words to that wonderful song “Grace Greater than Our Sin” in verses two and three:

Sin and despair like the sea waves cold

Threaten the soul with infinite loss

Grace that is greater, yes grace untold,

Points to the refuge, the mighty cross!

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.

What can avail to wash it away?

Look there is flowing a crimson tide!

Whiter than snow you may be today.

Is there a dark stain of sin that threatens your heart this morning? God has promised a fountain for you to cleanse you from sin and impurity. Is there a dark stain of shame or guilt? You no longer need to allow the devil to control your life. Take a hold of the cross brothers and sisters. Cling to the cross. That is where the promise comes from.

7. Christ’s blood brings us forgiveness.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are saved from our sins. We are pulled from the sea of iniquity and into the boat of salvation. We rescued from certain eternal death and into eternal life. The blood of Jesus Christ atones for our sins. When God looks at us he sees the cross of Christ and not our sins. When we approach God, we can do so because Jesus has died in our place for our sins. He was our perfect sacrifice for sins.

In our scripture here in Ephesians 1:7 we see these wonderful words. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins...”

What does this mean to you and me? How can we influence this for our lives right now?

You are set free from the Penalty of Sin. No longer will you be deemed guilty and sent to an eternal hell of punishment. The penalty of sin is death. By accepting God’s free offer of Jesus Christ you are freed from this penalty.

You are set free from the Power of Sin. Satan no longer has any right of way into your life. You do not need to give in to the temptation of sin. Because of Jesus Christ, you are now given the power to overcome sin by the blood of the Lamb.

Our attitude should be that of Romans 6:11- “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Folks, this is power for living beyond sin. Its not that I cannot sin. I will never live in this world beyond the ability or temptation to sin, but its that I don’t have to choose to sin. I don’t have to live under the power of sin. And its not a pastor’s lifestyle; its a Christian lifestyle.

You are set free from the Presence of Sin. I know good Christian people who live good holy lives before God and yet something is wrong within them. There is something that has kept them from being all that God wants them to be.

Not only are we redeemed from the condemnation of sin which brings the penalty of eternal death, but we also know that we are redeemed from the authority of sin in our life. There are those who no longer give in to those demeaning temptations of sin. God has empowered them through the blood to be victorious. But there is still more victory for them and maybe even for you today.

I am talking about the redemption from the guilt and shame of sin. You see, the devil loves to keep a Christian down by bringing up the past. If he can get you to live in dishonor then he can keep you from the full spiritual power that is yours.

Satan wants you to believe that your identity comes from what you have done in the past. God wants your identity to come from He has done for you through Jesus Christ. Your identity comes from what God says about you not what the devil says about you. You are free from condemnation forever.

Romans 8:33-34- “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

Sin no longer needs to have a presence in your life.

I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I believe in it because without it my life would be such a mess and be so confused. But with the forgiveness of sins, I am able to experience freedom and enjoy the presence of Christ in my life. Does that make my life perfect? No. But what it does do is make my life special. Why? Because my Savior has truly saved me and changed my life.