Unrighteous sinners may only be made righteous by imputation of Christ's obedience and blood. God justifies those who trust in Him and do not work for their own righteousness.
God does not impute the sins of His people to them, but to Christ instead.
David promised not to impute Shimei's sin to him, but when David died, his son had Shimei executed, recalling against him his sin against his father David.
Thus, David's forgiveness of Shimei falls far short of God's forgiveness of sinners.
David never loved Shimei, and thus he had no motive to offer him forgiveness.
But God loved His people from everlasting, and purposed to redeem us, even when we hated and rebelled against Him!
David's promise to Shimei of pardon fell void when David died. A promise cannot be kept by a dead man. This was the ultimate flaw in Shimei's forgiveness.
But God's promise to save those who trust in Him is everlasting and cannot be broken so long as God reigns!
Indeed, God determined by His will to redeem His people. First He determined to save us, then He confirmed it by an oath to us.
God hates promise-breakers, and it is His holiness and righteousness that ensures us He will never break His covenant with us to save us. We have in His Promise a sure anchor for the soul.
The Lord's Table pictures the execution of the covenant of redemption. Christ said it represents the blood of the New Covenant shed for the remission of sins. Thus, His sacrifice and blood is the means by which God's promise not to impute our sins against us is carried out.
David died, and his promise to forgive Shimei died with him. Praise God, our Redeemer ever lives to save us!
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John Pittman Hey was born in 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi, to Godly parents who from the beginning raised him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. With child-like faith he came to Christ on his fourth birthday at his mother's knee. He received his education at church...
