“Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”(Acts 13:38,39)
This SIMPLE passage concerning “THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN” and the justification of God’s people is without a doubt one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted Scriptures in the New Testament. Most sincere, moral, dedicated religious sinners are CLUELESS when it comes to “the forgiveness of sins.” I know this to be the case because I too was in “ignorance and unbelief”, yet religious, moral, sincere, and dedicated to a god and jesus of my imagination, the IDOL everyone in false religion indoctrinated me about from my youth up. All of us were “praying to a god who cannot save” – “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye [that are] escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, AND PRAY UNTO A GOD [that] CANNOT SAVE.”(Isa.45:20) We all “thought” that God loved everybody, that Christ died for everybody, and that God wants to save everybody, IF THEY ARE WILLING. God has never THOUGHT about doing anything, only to fail in the accomplishment of His sovereign will and pleasure – “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, [that] did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.”(Psalm 135:6) We spoke about “FORGIVENESS” in such a way that made it CONDITIONED on what the sinner does with that forgiveness. In other words, whether we said it out loud or not, we believed that Christ actually secured “FORGIVENESS” for all, only to see that “FORGIVENESS” He accomplished by His obedience unto death rendered worthless and unable to be entered into because of man’s unwillingness to believe or accept it. Paul summed up such evil, vile, satanic thoughts that are common to every unregenerate son of Adam – “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.”(I Cor.2:14) If this is YOUR VIEW, or this “jesus” is the object of your faith, you are right now “dead in trespasses and sin” – “ignorant of the righteousness of God” – “by nature children of wrath even as others.” According to Romans 10:1-3, YOU ARE LOST.
So what did Paul mean by his statement – “that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins?” Let me try to make it as simple as I can. Paul was telling HIS HEARERS, not only those who stood before him, but all who would read or hear these words, that the Gospel message is a DECLARATION (which is what the word translated “is preached” means) of “the forgiveness of sins.” The original word translated “the forgiveness” means ‘release from bondage or imprisonment’ or ‘remission of the penalty’. Even the lost Pharisees understood that GOD ALONE can forgive sin – “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Here’s the MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: On what basis is a sinner released from the bondage, guilt, and penalty of their sin? Before you answer, keep this in mind - “the wages of sin [are] DEATH.” Do you know what the Scriptures declare as the COST or PAYMENT required for the “forgiveness of sin”? Paul told those at Ephesus – “In whom WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”(Eph.1:7) Paul told those at Colosse the same thing – “In whom WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, [even] the forgiveness of sins.”(Col.1:14) The COST or PAYMENT REQUIRED for “the forgiveness of sins” isn’t the sinner’s FAITH, or their REPENTANCE, or their PROMISE TO DO BETTER. “FORGIVENESS” of sin was obtained PERFECTLY AND COMPLETELY for all God’s chosen people through CHRIST’S WORK OF REDEMPTION as His people’s Surety, Substitute, Representative, and Savior. FORGIVENESS of sin isn’t an offer of forgiveness conditioned on the sinner doing his or her part. It is a DECLARATION to those who see and know themselves to be SINNERS that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM.” How can God do this? How can He “justify the ungodly”? “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”(II Cor.5:21) May the true and living God give you “eyes to see” and “ears to hear” this glorious truth proclaimed – “THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.”
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