Benefits of Forgiveness of Sins

[Christsfreeservant]

Someone challenged me yesterday to look at what I have been sharing on the subject of God’s forgiveness of sins, and to look for positive remarks I have made concerning our Lord’s forgiveness of our sins. So, I am accepting that challenge and I am combing through my recent documents to see what I have shared previously. One of the first things the Lord showed me was this song he gave me to write 10 years ago, but which has been included in some of these recent writings.

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

The person who challenged me quoted this verse in Ephesians 1:7:

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”​

I had just finished going through the book of Ephesians, so I went first to the writing where I talked about this passage from Ephesians 1:1-10. This is a quote from that writing (the following quotes are all from what I wrote):

“Then we have the word ‘redemption,’ which means ‘buying back from, re-purchasing (winning back) what was previously forfeited (lost).’ (source: biblehub.com interlinear) So, when Jesus Christ shed his blood for us on that cross it was to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness, and so we would now honor God with our lives. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to him and to his righteousness and no longer for self.”​

This is from the next writing (Ref: Scripture passage Ephesians 1:11-14):

“And we are the saved of God by God’s grace, a grace from God which is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s soon return. For Jesus Christ gave himself up for us to redeem us (to buy us back from) all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, which are the works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them (see Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10).”​

And this from the next (Ref: Scripture passage Ephesians 1:15-23):

“Now, Paul was writing this to the saints of God, to those called to be his holy people to live lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of the character and deeds of Jesus Christ, as we cooperate with God in his work of grace in our lives in doing what he says for us to do. We are those of genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.”​

And from the next (ref: Scripture passage Ephesians 2:1-7):

“Therefore, when it says here that even when we were dead in our sins that God made us alive together with Christ, for by grace we have been saved, this is not saying that we are just changed from one status to another. We aren’t merely transferred from the status of unsaved to the status of saved. It means our hearts, our minds, and our souls have been changed by God, and so our attitudes, and our words, and our behaviors have also been changed so that we don’t live like we did before.”​

And from the next (ref: Scripture passage Ephesians 2:8-10):

“And how did Jesus Christ extend himself to us to show us his favor? He who was God in the flesh (both man and God) willingly gave himself up for us by dying on a cross for our sins. For he who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross so that when he died, our sins died with him, so that by his grace, and by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for ourselves, and that we might now honor him with our bodies (our lives).”​

[1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Romans 6:1-23]

And from the next (ref. Scripture passage Ephesians 2:11-22):

“So all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, regardless of nationality, race, and skin color, are fellow citizens with the saints of God and are members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus being our cornerstone. And it is in Christ that we all grow together into a holy temple in the Lord, for we are his temple, we are his building, his church.”​

And from the next (ref. Scripture passage Ephesians 3:7-13):

“And Paul taught that by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, we are not to let sin reign any longer in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it ends in death, but if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.”​

And from the next (ref. Scripture passage Ephesians 4:1-7):

“And we are all members of that one body, yet we may live in many different places, and so we may gather together in various places, but we are still one church, one body, with only one membership. And each of us is gifted by God with Spiritual gifts and we are given our assignments within the body of Christ by God, which is to be for the good of the body of Christ.”​

In summary, some of the benefits we have as believers in Jesus Christ because of our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace are:

We are redeemed by God out of our lives of slavery to sin so we can now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. Jesus Christ redeemed us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. And that means our hearts, our minds, and our souls have been changed by God, and so our attitudes, and our words, and our behaviors have also been changed so that we don’t live like we did before. And if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.

By his grace, and by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we have been saved, so we can now die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and we can live for him and no longer for ourselves, and we can now honor him with our bodies (with our lives). In Christ we can all grow together into a holy temple in the Lord, for we are his temple, we are his building, his church. And each of us has been gifted by God with Spiritual gifts and we are given our assignments within the body of Christ by God, which is to be for the good of the body of Christ.

 

[B Griffin]

Here is the lexical entry for the Greek word translated "forgiveness" in Eph. 1:7...

40.8 ἀφίημιf; ἄφεσιςa, εως f; ἀπολύωe: to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing—‘to pardon, to forgive, forgiveness.’ἀφίημιf: ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν ‘forgive us the wrongs that we have done’ Mt 6:12.​

ἄφεσιςa: τὸ αἷμά μου … τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν ‘my blood … which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ Mt 26:28.​

ἀπολύωe: ἀπολύετε, καὶ ἀπολυθήσεσθε ‘forgive and you will be forgiven (by God)’ Lk 6:37.​

It is extremely important to note that the focus in the meanings of ἀφίημιf, ἄφεσιςa, and ἀπολύωe is upon the guilt of the wrongdoer and not upon the wrongdoing itself. The event of wrongdoing is not undone, but the guilt resulting from such an event is pardoned. To forgive, therefore, means essentially to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing.​

Some languages make a clear distinction between guilt and sin, and terms for forgiveness are therefore related to guilt and not to the wrongdoing. Therefore, ‘to forgive sins’ is literally ‘to forgive guilt.’ Though terms for ‘forgiveness’ are often literally ‘to wipe out,’ ‘to blot out,’ or ‘to do away with,’ it is obviously not possible to blot out or to wipe out an event, but it is possible to remove or obliterate the guilt.​

[Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 502). United Bible Societies.]​

I see in the post above where you mentioned the word "forgiveness", but I don't see where you spoke of or referenced forgiveness in the context of what it means. I was hoping to see you elaborate on our sins being forgiven/pardoned by God.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Here is the lexical entry for the Greek word translated "forgiveness" in Eph. 1:7...

40.8 ἀφίημιf; ἄφεσιςa, εως f; ἀπολύωe: to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing—‘to pardon, to forgive, forgiveness.’ἀφίημιf: ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν ‘forgive us the wrongs that we have done’ Mt 6:12.​

ἄφεσιςa: τὸ αἷμά μου … τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν ‘my blood … which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ Mt 26:28.​

ἀπολύωe: ἀπολύετε, καὶ ἀπολυθήσεσθε ‘forgive and you will be forgiven (by God)’ Lk 6:37.​

It is extremely important to note that the focus in the meanings of ἀφίημιf, ἄφεσιςa, and ἀπολύωe is upon the guilt of the wrongdoer and not upon the wrongdoing itself. The event of wrongdoing is not undone, but the guilt resulting from such an event is pardoned. To forgive, therefore, means essentially to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing.​

Some languages make a clear distinction between guilt and sin, and terms for forgiveness are therefore related to guilt and not to the wrongdoing. Therefore, ‘to forgive sins’ is literally ‘to forgive guilt.’ Though terms for ‘forgiveness’ are often literally ‘to wipe out,’ ‘to blot out,’ or ‘to do away with,’ it is obviously not possible to blot out or to wipe out an event, but it is possible to remove or obliterate the guilt.​

[Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 502). United Bible Societies.]​

I see in the post above where you mentioned the word "forgiveness", but I don't see where you spoke of or referenced forgiveness in the context of what it means. I was hoping to see you elaborate on our sins being forgiven/pardoned by God.

Forgiveness of sins is part of our redemption and our salvation. They are all interconnected and cannot be separated one from the other. For we are not forgiven our sins, end of story. God does not offer us unconditional forgiveness of sins. Even one of the most misquoted Scriptures on this topic of forgiveness (Psalms 103) says three times "for those who fear him," and to fear God is to take him and his word seriously, to revere him, to honor him with our lives, and to obey him. The whole object of our forgiveness of sins is to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so we will now walk in holiness and in righteousness and not in sin. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And that message was taught to the church over again.

See: Those Who Keep Faith

 

[B Griffin]

Forgiveness of sins is part of our redemption and our salvation.

You are correct. No person will ever be saved (or stay saved) without forgiveness of sins because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

They are all interconnected and cannot be separated one from the other. For we are not forgiven our sins, end of story. God does not offer us unconditional forgiveness of sins. Even one of the most misquoted Scriptures on this topic of forgiveness (Psalms 103) says three times "for those who fear him," and to fear God is to take him and his word seriously, to revere him, to honor him with our lives, and to obey him.

This is confusing. Why would people who "take God and his word seriously, revere him, honor him with their lives, and obey him" need His forgiveness? Only sinners need forgiveness of sins, right?

The whole object of our forgiveness of sins is to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so we will now walk in holiness and in righteousness and not in sin.

You are conflating the roles of "forgiveness" and "new life". Forgiveness means we don't get the wages our sins earned. New life means we are made new creatures (created according to God in true righteousness and holiness) when Jesus comes to live in our hearts.

For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

Unless you believe in sinless perfection, forgiveness of sins is still needed for those who will inherit eternal life.

And that message was taught to the church over again.

See: Those Who Keep Faith