In our study of Mark last time we jumped off into the doctrine of forgiveness from Mark 2:9; because the scribes were taking issue with Jesus' forgiving of the paralyzed man's sins.
We stopped last time with the four decisions that Jesus Christ as eternal God made in eternity past that makes forgiveness possible.
The first decision was atonement. Atonement means that the Lord Jesus Christ was judged for the sins of the world. He was judged as a substitute for us (the Greek preposition huper plus the genitive of advantage). Rom 5:8;
The second decision was propitiation. Propitiation is the judgment of our Lord satisfying the righteousness of God the Father. 1John 2:2;
The third decision was reconciliation. Anyone can be reconciled to God the Father through the salvation work of Jesus Christ. 2Cor 5:18;
The fourth decision was redemption. Redemption is our Lord paying the price for our eternal salvation, purchasing us from the slave market of sin. Mankind makes the decision to accept God's redemption solution by faith alone because only faith is compatible with grace. Col 1:13-14;
This means that it is easier for Jesus to heal than to forgive sins because forgiveness requires positive volition to the identity of the person of Jesus Christ for salvation. This is because all presalvation sins are forgiven and blotted out at the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ.
Filling by means of the Spirit would be impossible at the moment of salvation unless all sins were all forgiven. At salvation God couldn't give you anything if you were still tainted with sins because God can have nothing to do with sin.
Subsequently, all postsalvation sins are forgiven at the moment you use the rebound technique of 1John 1:9. You have to acknowledge sin because there was no forgiveness provided on the Cross.
Forgiveness is not a part of the Cross because the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross did not include forgiveness.
The unbeliever's sins are never forgiven because he never believes in Jesus Christ. At the last judgment unbelievers are judged for their works including their failure to believe in Jesus Christ but they are not judged for their sins because Jesus was judged for their sins on the cross. Rev 20:11-15;
There is no forgiveness in redemption. Redemption is the opportunity for freedom from the slave market of sin through faith alone in Christ alone.
In John 19:30; we have our Lord's statement on the Cross, "It is finished." This is the perfect tense of the Greek verb "tetelestai" that means "Finished now with results that go on forever."
This verb divides the work that Jesus Christ did on the Cross from forgiveness. Forgiveness does not occur in the courtroom, the basis for forgiveness does.
No one is ever forgiven because Christ was judged for their sins; they are forgiven because they believe in Christ. Tetelestai is the line that separates redemption and forgiveness.
When a person rejects salvation through faith alone in Christ alone, he completely rejects the love of God, but the love of God never rejects the unbeliever.
Everyone is always the target of God's love. John 3:16;
Forgiveness is the result of a decision made by mankind because we have to respond to what God did for us.
It is important for us to understand the difference between redemption and forgiveness. Gal 3:13; "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us for it is written, 'Cursed (judged) is everyone who hangs on a tree (the cross).'"
This passage discusses redemption but does not mention forgiveness. This is because redemption and forgiveness are not the same thing. There was no forgiveness in the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The cross was only a time of judgment.
Forgiveness is the result of a decision made by human beings who accept God's provision of salvation that is made possible by Jesus Christ on the cross.
Redemption provides the spiritual freedom to fulfill the unique plan of God or to fail to use the equality of freedom to execute the unique plan of God. Redemption is freedom from the slave market of sin as a result of faith alone in Christ alone. Forgiveness is based on redemption but they are not the same.
Redemption comes at the Cross. Forgiveness comes at the point of faith alone in Christ alone. The result of believing in Christ is forgiveness. All pre-salvation sins were forgiven the moment we believed in Christ. All post salvation sins are not forgiven unless we fulfill the principle of 1John 1:9; and acknowledge our sins to God.
All the sins of all unbelievers reject salvation and their sins are never forgiven, but the sins are also not used as the basis for the indictment of the unbeliever. They are never judged for their sins because Christ was judged for their sins.
They are judged for their refusal to believe in Christ who is God's means of redemption and forgiveness.
Unbelievers simply remain satan's children and therefore share his destiny. John 3:18; John 8:44; Matt 25:41;
Sin is the curse of the Law. Rom 6:23; Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by dying as our substitute. Rom 5:8; All forgiveness is made possible by redemption.
Once you believe in Christ you are freed from the power of the sin nature and can reject the lusts of the sin nature by obeying God the Holy Spirit. Rom 8:2;
Forgiveness however does not come until you acknowledge or name and cite your sin or sins to God the Father. Forgiveness is always a result of salvation; it is a result of the spiritual life. Redemption is a part of judgment, and the curse of the Law is the judgment of death. Forgiveness is therefore a result of redemption but not a part of redemption.
There is therefore no forgiveness described in (Gal 3:13), only judgment. God never mixes judgment and forgiveness. Forgiveness always follows judgment as a result of our Lord's decision to go to the Cross and be judged for our sins. 2Cor 5:21;
Another passage that discusses both redemption and forgiveness is Eph 1:6-7, "to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He freely has graced us out in the Beloved (Jesus Christ); by agency of Whom (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through His blood, (we have) the forgiveness of trespasses on the basis of the riches of His grace,"
This passage describes non-meritorious Faith (Eph 2:8;) that responds to atonement and redemption and believes in Christ. The moment we believe in Christ we receive at least forty grace gifts from God including the righteousness of God.
We could not receive these things unless something happened at the moment we believed in Christ, and that something that happened was the forgiveness of all pre-salvation sins. God blesses us when we agree with Him and believe in Christ.
Forgiveness occurs at the moment of faith in Christ, not at the cross. The moment of salvation is when God forgives. You could not receive the benefit of redemption until you believed in the source of redemption. God cannot give you the grace gifts of salvation until you are forgiven.
There is no forgiveness at the Cross. You are forgiven after the Cross, when you believe in Jesus Christ, and then subsequently every time you agree with God and acknowledge any known sin.
Some pastors erroneously teach that forgiveness occurred on the cross and thereby allege that the acknowledgement of sin per 1John 1:9; unnecessary. Ritual verbalization may not be necessary, but a change of thinking is. 1Cor 11:31-32;
A change of thinking implies acknowledgement because one has to recognize and acknowledge that there is a problem before one can change.
Church Age believers are commanded to stop grieving and stop quenching the Holy Spirit. This can only be done by the acknowledgement of sin. We are forgiven after salvation whenever we name or cite the sin the Holy Spirit convicts us of in the courtroom of heaven.
The judgment of our sins and forgiveness were separated by our Lord's statement on the Cross, "It is finished now with the result that it stands finished forever." No one ever has forgiveness of sins until he believes in Christ.
In Eph 1:7; Both the word "redemption" and the word "forgiveness" are in the accusative case but in the Greek there is no such thing as an accusative of apposition. There is a nominative of apposition and a genitive of apposition, but not an accusative of apposition.
This means that the phrase "the forgiveness of sins" is not an explanation (in apposition) to the phrase "the redemption through His blood."
The word "forgiveness" is an accusative of result, it is not an accusative of apposition. The word "redemption" is the accusative of direct object. Forgiveness is therefore a result of redemption but they do not occur simultaneously.
These two accusatives are a double accusative the accusative of direct object and the accusative of result. They can also be described as a double accusative of primary and secondary object.
The primary objective is redemption. The secondary objective is forgiveness. One follows the other but they are not simultaneous so forgiveness is separated from redemption.
The concept is the same as what we have in Col 1:14; "By means of Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." There is no concessive connotation in this passage either.
The salvation ministry of Jesus Christ on the cross must therefore be distinguished from the doctrine of forgiveness. Redemption was the decision of Jesus Christ in eternity past as eternal God and fulfilled on the cross as true humanity.