To whomsoever it may concern, for whom Christ died,
In my house, we have been praying
that we will be worthy of his coming, and that our garments are not mothed and
dirty. (Luke 21:36, James 5:2, Revelation 3:4, Revelation 16:15) I have
something that I want to repent
of. The only way that I can see to be able to explain it to you is with a
letter and verses. Many of these verses you will know, so I have tried to just
put references to them instead of making this too long to read.
The Bible says confess your faults to
your brethren, [Jas 5:16 KJV] 16 Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray
one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
It also says, test the spirits. (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21, 1 John 4:1)
While I was in Florida we went out
and did some witnessing with a friend, the guy that I went with confused me so
much that I had to go through and make sure that what I knew was correct. We
should have a good understanding of forgiveness/atonement and how its mechanics
works. I am very technical, so if something doesn’t make sense I have issues,
it is just how God made me. I am not going to go into the back story, because
it is too long, basically the guy would give a partial Gospel going off in all
kinds of directions. However, this is what I found in the bible about how
forgiveness/atonement works. I have known parts of this but not all put
together, I guess that is what happens when you have to listen to your dad
every Sunday preach… la, la, la, la, la.
Starting with when Adam and Eve
sinned God showed them that there must be a payment for the sin they committed.
God sacrificed an animal (quite possibly a sheep). God show them that it he
requires blood to pay for a crime committed against him. This is seen all the
way through the Old Testament when Abel offered an animal and having faith in
the blood sacrifice (Heb 11:4). When Noah, sacrificed and burned and offered on
an altar (Gen 8:20). When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar and God gave a
sheep to sacrifice instead. When Moses, built altars and called upon the name
of the Lord. During the Passover in Egypt they had to apply the blood. Leviticus
17:11 says, that the blood makes atonement for the soul. And Heb 12:24
says, that what Jesus did speaketh better things than that of Abel. Heb 9:7-28,
Heb 10:4, and Heb 10:19 explains this in extreme detail. It talks about ‘how’
the patterns apply from Old Testament into the New Testament. And so the Gospel
is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. I have also found that Peter got in
trouble by Paul for making the gentiles behave like the Jews in Galatians 2:10.
Peter repented and changed his mind and said in (2 Peter 3:15) that Paul was
given wisdom that we should learn. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 it talks about “how”
Christ Died and the latter in Hebrews explains the how.
So then, they used a blood
sacrifice to call upon the name of the Lord. However, “Call” seems to have
changed in meaning through the years. http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/call
says, 1. To name, 2. To request to meet or come, 3. To invite, 4. To appoint or
designate, 5. To invoke or appeal to, 6. To utter a loud sound, 7. To draw into
union with Christ, to bring to know, believe and obey the gospel. Romans
10:13-14 says, Call upon the name of the Lord, and then it says, how
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? [2Ti 2:22]
says, Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity,
peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Because [Eph
2:8-9] says it is not of works, that means you cannot “DO” anything to saved
and forgiven. I do not want to be guilty of honouring Jesus with my lips: [Mar
7:6 KJV] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you
hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with [their] lips,
but their heart is far from me. [Mar 7:7 KJV] Howbeit in vain do
they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
[Mar 7:8 KJV] For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition
of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things
ye do. Also, there are examples of how words have changed through history,
today we would think that the word “letteth” means “to permit or to allow” in
[2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJV], however in the bible dictionary the same word means
“hinder/restrain/hold back”.
John R. Rice said: "Many people believe that a sinner cannot be
saved without a period of prayer, without consciously calling upon God.
However, the Bible does not say that a sinner must pray in order to be saved.
In fact, immediately following the verse in Rom. 10:13 is an explanation which
shows that calling on God is an evidence of faith in the heart and that it is
really faith which settles the matter... No matter how long he prays, if he
does not trust in Christ, he can never be saved. If he trusts in Christ without
conscious prayer, then he is saved already. There is just one plan of salvation
and just one step a sinner must take to secure it. That step is to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ!"
Charles
H. Spurgeon said: "Thou art to be
saved by faith in Christ...and in Christ alone. Do not think thou must
experience this, or that, before thou comest unto Jesus...Rely not on anything
thou canst DO, or THINK, or SAY, or know; rest alone on Jesus only, and thou
art saved. Give up all other trusts, and rely on Jesus alone, alone on Jesus,
and thou shalt pass from death unto life.", written in The Sword and
The Trowel Magazine 1895 "Christ's Atoning Sacrifice".
In a book, God's Plan With Men,
T.T. Martin (1862-1939) wrote, in which he shows that it's IMPOSSIBLE for man
to obtain salvation from God by "asking for it in prayer." Several
excerpts:
·
"When
one faces the question of his sins and realizes that he deserves just
punishment, one of the first impulses is to pray and beg God to be let off, to
be forgiven. Alas! Much of the religious instruction to the sinner is to the
same effect. Many feel that God forgives the sinner because he begs to be
forgiven instead of because he accepts and relies upon the atoning death of
Christ as his Substitute.” But God does not forgive a lost sinner just
because he begs for forgiveness.
·
“Jesus to
Nicodemus gave no such instruction (John 3:14-16). Philip to the eunuch gave no
such instruction (Acts 8:29-39). Paul and Silas to the jailer gave no such
instruction (Acts 16:30, 31). Peter to the household of Cornelius gave no such
instruction (Acts 10:42,43).”
·
“The
Gospel of John, the one book specially given to lead a sinner to be saved,
gives no such instruction (John 20:30,31).”
T.T. Martin shows that man's first desire when found guilty
is to BEG or ASK to be forgiven. But this is not the Gospel. God never tells
anyone to ask Him for forgiveness. If salvation were obtained by simply
uttering a prayer or begging God to be let off, then Jesus would not have had
to die on the cross! He could have stayed in heaven and used a prophet to tell
us, "Okay, now I'm starting a new
dispensation. Anyone who just prays, begging me for salvation, I'll accept and
give them the new birth!" I have been guilty of this and I didn’t even
know it!
T.T. Martin continues by giving us the illustration of
judicial law. He says,
“Every transgression must have "a just recompense of reward,"
however sorry the sinner may be, however much he may pray and beg to be
forgiven, let off; however much the priest or preacher or friends may pray for
him to be forgiven, to be let off. A man who has violated the state law falls
on his knees before the judge, confesses his sin and begs the judge to forgive
him, to let him off; and he calls men from the audience to come and help him
beg. The judge replies, "If I should yield to these petitions I would be a
perjurer; I would trample on law. Every transgression must receive a just
recompense of reward." Would that all could realize that every prayer from
sinner, priest, or preacher, for a sinner to be forgiven, let off, is a prayer
to God to become a perjurer. If sinners could realize that, after all their
kneeling every night and confessing their sins, and praying to be forgiven, to
be let off, every sin ever committed is still there, and that "Apart from
shedding of blood there is no remission," they would then realize their
real need of a Saviour, a Redeemer.”
No righteous judge in any court of law would let a condemned
man go free simply because he "asked to be let go" or "prayed
that he give him leave."
Next, to define repentance is to
feel pain, sorrow, or regret for something done or spoken, also to change one’s
mind on the subject. Luke 13:3-5.
Examples of sacrifices and unrepentant hearts that were rejected
by God (Esau, Nadab, Abihu, Judas):
·
Esau in Hebrews 12:16-17, Lest there be any
fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his
birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the
blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though
he sought it carefully with tears. Esau prayed and cried and God
rejected him. He didn’t feel sorry for what he did.
·
Nadab and Abihu tried to innovate the
sacrificial system, the violations that got them in trouble was unauthorized
entry, lack of reverence, and offered strange fire, they used fire from another
source and should have used the fire from the brazen altar, I found that it is
suggested that they were intoxicated also and then God consumed them with fire.
Leviticus 10.
·
Judas Iscariot called upon Jesus with “Hail, Master”
[Matthew 26:49]. Matthew 27:3-4 says, Judas REPENTED HIMSELF and saying I HAVE
SINNED to the elders. He did not repent to God and he sure did not trust the
Blood of Jesus to forgive him (verbal confession). Judas made confession to a
priest, just as every Roman Catholic does. But they do not receive forgiveness
of sins because of it, and neither did Judas. Forgiveness only comes through
trusting the blood of Jesus [Eph. 1:7]. Clearly, the moment a person BELIEVES,
he is saved (Eph. 1:13). Paul plainly tells us in [2 Corinthians 4:13] "We
having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I BELIEVED, and
THEREFORE have I SPOKEN; we also believe, and therefore speak." After a
sinner's saved, he will SPEAK, or CONFESS that he is saved! SPEAKING THE
CONFESSION itself isn't what saves a man, FAITH is necessary for God to give a
man the new birth. But, if a man is saved, he will then CONFESS that he has
trusted Christ as his Saviour!
So, there is a group of people that God speaks of a person
that “Says Lord, Lord”, I do not want to be part of this group! In [Matthew
7:21-23], we see people who called upon the Lord, but were never saved: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. They are trusting in what they did, prophesy, casting out
devils, many wonderful works… Matthew 7 tells us that they did not have faith
from the heart in the finished work of Christ.
There are things in the Old
Testament that are used as a way to show how salvation works, Luke 18:13-14 as
an example of forgiveness is Old Testament. The New Testament starts where
Jesus Died, was buried, and rose again, and his blood hit the ground, and after
he rose he ascended to heaven to offer himself up to God as our Atonement for
sin. Luke 18, is not an example after Jesus died. Also when Peter said “Lord,
Save Me” Matthew 14:30 he didn’t want to drown, he was not asking Jesus to save
his soul, he called for physical salvation of his life, not spiritual salvation
of his soul. Then as we know Peter denied Jesus, so we know he had a heart
problem. Those are a few examples of calling upon the Lord in the wrong way,
and I do not want to be guilty of this.
How does God Forgive us? [Mat 6:12
KJV] And forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors. [Mat 6:14 KJV] For if
ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: As? If? For the As
and If we find in Luke 17:3
the process that is given for us to forgive each other. [Luk 17:3 KJV] Take
heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if
he repent, forgive him. So in the process, it goes step 1. Rebuke(express
disapproval), step 2. If he feels sorry and changes his mind(repents)
then go to 3 if not go back to step 1, step 3. (Forgive) him. Luke 17:4 says if the entire process fails repeat the
process steps 1-3. So in this order we learn that the Holy Ghost Convicts(rebuke),
I feel sorry and change my mind about my direction(repent), it is God’s job to (Forgive)! In the above process we do
not find anything that tells us that we must “Ask” for forgiveness so
that we might receive it.
I cannot find anything in the bible that says “Ask for your
sins to be forgiven.”, “Ask and you will be saved”. I cannot find anything of
the sort. So as we know: [Luk 6:45 KJV] A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the
abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Thus, I have repented
from “Asking for Forgiveness”.
·
The old me every night and all the time:
“Dear Lord, please forgive me of (x sin) that I have done that displeases you.
Help me to do better. (over and over every time I fail)”
o
The Short version during the day when something
happens; “Please forgive me”.
·
The new me every night and all the time:
“Dear Lord, I am sorry for (x sin) that I have done that has displeased you, do
not want to do it again, please help me to do better, Thank You O Lord for your
Forgiveness/Atonement in this matter because you said ‘IT IS FINISHED’.”
o
The Short version during the day when something
happens; “Sorry Lord, Thank You for your Forgiveness”.
The old me was constantly asking for forgiveness, the new me
is constantly giving thanks after I repent. When Jesus forgives us of all sins,
it is for the Past-Present-Future, so all I can do is say I am sorry and give
thanks.
[Eph 2:8 KJV] For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
If forgiveness/salvation/atonement is a gift, how can I “Ask” for it? All that
is left is to “Receive” it, and show God my gratitude. What do you say when you
receive a Christmas Present? “Thank You!” (Psalm 30:12) and (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
says we should give thanks forever that believe!!! This verse says that ‘by
faith Christ is in us’ it does not tell you to “ask” for it. [Eph 3:17 KJV] That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…
see companion verses (Galatians 2:20, 2 Thessalonians 1:10, Colossians 1:27, Galatians
4:19, Galatians 1:15-16, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, Romans 8:10).
I have noticed with my children that it drives me nuts when
they ask every 30 seconds for something. God has to be annoyed when I was
constantly ‘asking for forgiveness’ all the time when He said ‘IT IS FINISHED’!
In Christ and in Love (Eph 3:17),
Matthew Morrow, for whom Christ died!
