Dallas Burdette |
June 8, 1999 |
Thrust Statement: Forgiveness
is in and through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Scripture Reading: Acts
10:34-43.[1]
I
am wondering if you are saying to yourself, “Well, I am not so bad. You know I do a lot of good works. Surely God would not condemn me. I try to treat everybody right.” It is not uncommon for people to reflect
upon the good works of individuals at death, and then surmise that surely they
are in heaven because they were just “good people.” Christ never really enters the picture. Sin never really enters the picture. There is no concept of the need of redemption from sin. No one discounts good works, but good works
alone will not save anyone. Why,
because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. No one is without sin. Everyone must be washed in the blood of the
Lamb of God. Without Jesus, one cannot
be saved. To set the stage for this
message about “Forgiveness Full and Free,” it will be helpful to begin with an
individual who was devout, one that feared God, and one that prayed to God
always. This man was a good man, but he
did not know Christ. But because of
his devotion to God, God intervened in his life in order to bring him to a
saving knowledge of Jesus, the Savior of the world. God is interested in your salvation and mine.
CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
Luke records how God through an angel approached Cornelius and told him to send for Peter, one of God’s chosen apostles, to tell him about Jesus, God’s Anointed One. Luke begins this story with these words:
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a
centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were
devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God
regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He
distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is
it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor
have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is
called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants
and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything
that had happened and sent them to Joppa (Acts 10:1-8).
God used Cornelius, a gentile, to illustrate that His grace
is available to all men, not just Jews.
But before the men from Cornelius arrived, God appeared in a vision to
Peter to teach him not to call “anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). After Peter
reached his destination at Cornelius’s home, Peter went inside and found a
large gathering. Peter then informed
Cornelius that “You are well aware
that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.
But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when
I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent
for me?” (Acts
10:28-29). Cornelius then told him about the vision he had
encountered and proceeded to say, “So I sent for you immediately, and it was
good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to
everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (Acts 10:33).
PETER’S SERMON
Peter
begins his remarks by saying, “I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from
every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent
to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ,
who is Lord of all” (Acts 10:34-36).
This message is as true today as it was almost two thousand years
ago. This is the same message that I am
proclaiming to all of you. The message
of “peace through Jesus Christ” our Lord.
In the course of this sermon, Peter says, “All the prophets testify
about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name” (Acts 10:43).
Even with all Cornelius’ good works, still he did not have peace with
God that involved the calm of sins forgiven.
This peace and forgiveness of sins can be experienced only through our
Lord Jesus Christ. It is in this same
vein that Paul later wrote after his conversion concerning the forgiveness of
sins: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
The Promise of
Forgiveness
Peters
says, “All the prophets testify
about him.” He is referring to the Old
Testament Scriptures, which promises forgiveness through the coming of the
Messiah. These Scriptures were divided
into three parts: the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. Luke also reports the farewell words of
Jesus to His apostles as He draws attention to the three divisions in the Old
Testament: “This is
what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that
is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). A study of the Old Testament reveals that
forgiveness was not an afterthought on the part of God, but rather, forgiveness
was ever and always the promise of God for men and women.
Forgiveness Was
Promised in the Book of the Law
As
one peruses the Old Testament sacrificial system and the temple complex with
its furniture, one soon discovers that the animal victims and the temple system
were but a foreshadowing of the one and only sacrifice that was to be offered
in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew writer expresses it this way:
The law is only a shadow of the good things that
are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the
same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw
near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For
the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have
felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of
sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away
sins (Hebrews
10:1-4).
To
briefly illustrate the promise of forgiveness in the book of the Law, I call
attention to a few passages in the book of Genesis.
Perhaps, one of the most frequently cited Scriptures in Genesis is
chapter 3,
verse
15. This verse records a conversation that God had
with Satan: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). In other words, God says that this “enmity”
will spread to the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed. God specifically speaks of “one” of Eve’s
seed—“he will crush your head.”
In other words, God announces this One as a male descendant. “He” will someday bruise the head of the
Serpent (Satan), and Satan will bruise his heal. This took place in the crucifixion of Jesus.
In this ultimate atonement for sin in Genesis 3:15,
God promises a male descendant of the woman who will “crush” and defeat Satan
and his seed. This is the Gospel
message. Jesus came to give His life a ransom for many and to destroy the works
of Satan. Consider the following
comments by Jesus: “the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 10:28). Again, “But
I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:31). Listen, once more, to the words of Jesus as
He addresses the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of His disciples and the
condemnation of Satan: “and in regard to
judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11). Genesis 3:15 is about
forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
Before leaving the book of Genesis, it is appropriate that I call attention to God’s conversation with Abraham:
I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:2-3).
God commands Abram to leave his own country and
travel to the land that God would show him.
In Genesis
12:3, God says that He blessed all people through Abram. Again, God repeats his blessings to Abraham
as recorded in Genesis
17. God, on this occasion,
informs Abram that through his seed nations and kings would come forth:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD
appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your
numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with
you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called
Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come
from you (Genesis
17:1-6).
But in Genesis 22:18, God is even more specific, when He
informs Abraham that “through your offspring all nations on earth will be
blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
The KJV translates this verse: “In your seed all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”[2] Paul, in writing to the Galatians,
understood these passages in Genesis as having their fulfillment in Jesus. He writes:
Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of
Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed
through you” (Galatians
3:6-8).
Paul does not stop with this announcement about
the proclamation of the gospel to Abraham, but Paul develops this still further
by saying: “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture
does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’
meaning one person, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:15-16).
Forgiveness Through His Name
Forgiveness was promised in the Law, the Psalms,
and the prophets. This message will not
examine the Psalms or the prophets concerning the forgiveness of sins. This development of forgiveness in the
Psalms and the prophets will be developed in another message in which I will
explore all three divisions. But, for
the time being, I want to call attention once more to the sermon of Peter in
Cornelius’ home. Peter goes right to
the “heart and how” of forgiveness: “All the prophets testify about him that
everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
name” (Acts
10:43).
You must believe in Him if you expect the
forgiveness of your sins. “Through His
name” comprehends the total life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. One cannot help but recall the angel’s
message as he announces the birth of Jesus: “She will give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins” (Matthew 1:21). Up until that time, God’s people depended
upon animal sacrifices. But, the
writer of the Hebrew letters says, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and
goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).
The blood of bulls and goats temporarily covered sins but could not take
them away. Finally, however, the
Messiah appeared to accomplish this feat.
John the Baptist declared, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Forgiveness
Through His Blood
The Hebrew writer also calls attention to this aspect of
forgiveness through blood: “without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). God had to deal with man’s evil. God had to present a perfect sacrifice for
sin. Since God is holy and just, He had
to deal with sin. It is in this regard
that Habakkuk speaks, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot
tolerate wrong” (Habakkuk
1:13). Therefore sin had to
be fully and finally judged in the person of His Son. This is why Paul writes: “God presented him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand
unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present
time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus”
(Romans 3:25-26). Jesus died as our substitute.
The
Resurrection and Forgiveness of Sins
When the apostles appeared before the
Sanhedrin (Acts 5:27), the apostles, in response to
questions asked by the ruling body, addressed the benefits of the resurrection
in these words: “God exalted him to his
own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and
forgiveness of sins to Israel” (Acts 5:31).
For the believer, the resurrection is the seal of God’s acceptance of
the sacrifice Jesus made for sin.
Forgiveness of sins is not difficult to receive; it is simply a matter
of faith in Jesus. Peter says,
“everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
name” (Acts
10:43). The act of believing
involves repentance and baptism on the part of the one who wishes to possess
eternal life.
On the
day of Pentecost, Peter, in response to the crowds questioning him and the
other apostles about what to do to be saved, responded by asserting, “Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). If you wish to experience “forgiveness full
and free,” you must repent of your sins.
Repentance is more that just regret over your past actions; repentance
involves a total change of heart, mind, and will concerning sin. Repentance means that you are no longer a
servant of sin, but rather a servant of righteousness. The Scriptures assert, “He who conceals his
sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). John also proclaims the same thing: “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Forgiveness is available to anyone who believes in Jesus and repents of
his/her sins. Once you have repented of
your sins, then you need to respond to baptism that is in the name of
Jesus—“repent and be baptized,” announced Peter.
Personal Reliance on Christ for Forgiveness
There is only one Person in the universe who can set you
free from sin, and that One is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord. “Everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43), said Peter to Cornelius and his
household. Paul expresses it this way:
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Here it is—forgiveness full and free. Do you want forgiveness in your life? You would do well to listen to Peter as he
speaks about the forgiveness of sins to Cornelius: “He commanded us to preach
to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of
the living and the dead. All
the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:42-43).
Paul, in
Pisidian Antioch, calls attention to the “good news” about forgiveness (Acts 13:32). He also calls attention to the Holy
Scriptures to give validity to his conclusions: “What God promised our fathers
he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written
in the second Psalm (Acts 13:32-33).
Again Paul declares, “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him
everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified
from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39). In conclusion, I remind each of you that if
you wish to possess “forgiveness full and free,” the condition is: a total
repentance of sin and a total reliance on Christ.
Oakwood Hills Church
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Date: June 19, 1999
Time: 7 p.m.
Occasion: Gospel Meeting
Present: