SPIRITUAL GROWTH ENHANCERS
REF NO: 020
OPENING PASSAGE: Psalm 86:5, NIV: You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
TOPIC: THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GOD
Do you call to God? How often do you speak with Him on daily basis? In today's passage, the psalmist shares pearls with us about three thought-provoking and profound truths in his encounter with God about His character. He has unveiled the Almighty to us as "Forgiving, Good and Loving" and we are going to take some time to study these attributes about God's nature.
I. HE IS FORGIVING
The root of “forgive” is the Latin word “perdonare,” meaning “to give completely, without reservation.” That “perdonare” is also the source of our English “pardon.” According to Wikipedia, A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction.
Webster's Dictionary:
a. The excusing of an offence without exacting a penalty
b. An official warrant of remission of penalty (a royal pardon later released him from a death sentence)
c. Excuse or forgiveness for a fault, offence, or discourtesy
e. To absolve from the consequences of a fault or crime
f. To allow (an offence) to pass without punishment: FORGIVE
According to Collins Dictionary, If someone who has been found guilty of a crime is pardoned, they are officially allowed to go free and are not punished.
The Cambridge Dictionary sums it all, "If someone who has committed a crime is pardoned, that person is officially forgiven and their punishment is stopped:"
According to biblical research: two main words in the Old Testament for “forgiveness,” and they’re usually translated in the semantic range or cluster of “pardon” / “pardoned” / “forgive” / “forgiveness” / “forgiven” / “forgiving.” Together they form a mega-theme in the Hebrew Bible. The two words are nasa and salah.
The word nasa means “the taking away, forgiveness or pardon of sin, iniquity, and transgression.” So characteristic is this action of taking away sin that it is listed as one of God’s attributes (e.g., Exod 34:7; Num 14:18, Mic 7:18).
Sin can be forgiven and forgotten by God because it is “taken up and carried away.”
Isaiah 43:25, KJV: I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Hebrews 8:12, GNB: I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs.”
So why do you still dwell in the past of your sins? Why do you still remember and talk about your sins when God does not remember it anymore? Why do you still think about the circumstances of your past when the Almighty only thinks about your future to give you an expectant end?
Why do you still live in the regret of what you did in the past when in a matter of fact the Almighty is not counting it against you? When He does not even remember and His only concentration and focus is to get you a better future? Nobody can accuse you because of your sins.
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” Zechariah 3:1-4, NIV
Beloved nobody can accuse you of your sins. See not even the devil has the right to accuse you or talk about your sins. When the devil reminds you of your sins, remind him of his defeat at Golgotha, on the cross at Calvary.
Nobody have the right to discuss the circumstances of your past. It is Christ that died. It is God that showeth mercy and it is He that forgives. Who are you that judges another man's servant? When Satan tells you about your sins, tell him about his eternal fate in the lake of fire. When he reminds you of your past, remind him of the blood of Jesus. Tell him that the blood of Jesus is against him.
Both the Old and New Testament verses encourages us to a genuine repentance, because there is forgiveness with God, and shows the freeness of Divine mercy. When God forgives, he forgets. It is not for any thing in us, but for his mercies' sake, His name's sake, His promise' sake; and more especially for his Son's sake.
God is holy and God is righteous and His word never fails and His plans stand firm forever. The intentions of the Lord can never be shaken and He is a God that remembers His covenant promises to all His people.
In Exodus 32:32, 34:7, Numbers 14:18, 1 Samuel 15:25, Job 7:21, and Micah 7:18, nasa means “take away guilt, iniquity, transgression, etc.” (i.e., “forgive” or “pardon”). Micah 7:18-19 contains these wonderful words:
Who is a God like you, who pardons [nasa] sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
This passage reveals that no angel or human has a character so willing to pardon wickedness done against himself or others as God does. Micah 7:18 says that God delights in showing mercy. This means He enjoys doing it. He does not begrudgingly pardon our sins.
The second-word "salah" is used as God’s offer of pardon and forgiveness to the sinner. Never does this word in any of its forms refer to people forgiving each other. It is exclusively a divine action.
Salah removes guilt associated with a moral sin or wrongdoing connected to a ritual or vow. Isaiah 55:7 reveals that God calls individuals to turn from their known sinful ways and turn to him so that their sins may be pardoned:
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon [salah].
And now let us add a New Testament (Greek) word to the mix:
'Iesous' (ee-YAY-soos) is a proper noun that comes into English as “Jesus,” which is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Joshua,” meaning “the Lord saves.” Matthew 1:21 says:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus [Iesous] because he will save his people from their sins.
According to the New Testament, Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, the Creator and Savior of the world, the founder of Christianity, and the sinless exemplar of the nature and ways of God.
In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus is anointed by a sinful woman in the presence of Simon the Pharisee, a religious leader in first-century Israel.
The scene is provocative and scandalous for its day, but the encounter ends like this in Vv. 48-49: Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
That’s the right question to ask. Jesus Christ is the embodied forgiveness of God. He is 'nasa' and salah in the flesh.
My dear friend of God, there is no sin that the precious blood of Jesus cannot forgive. There is no reason to fear or be afraid of your sins. All your sins are covered according to Scripture. All you do is have genuine remorse about your sins, take it before the throne and confess all your sins to God and you are forgiven.
There is nowhere sin can place you that the blood of Jesus cannot locate you. Is there any hidden sin? Are you still living in sin? God is full of forgiving and ready to forgive you right now. Never harbour any sin in your heart. Feel free to approach the throne of grace and I can assure you that you shall find forgiveness from the Lord who is ready to forgive and to save you from your sin and guilt.
Hebrews 4:16, CSB: "Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need."
Fortunately, for the Christian, Jesus not only understands our struggles and failures (Hebrews 2:14–18), He has overcome them first-hand (Hebrews 4:15).
Knowing, then, that Christ fully understands our weaknesses and has experienced our pain, we can pray. When we come to God asking for mercy, grace, help, or forgiveness, we can be confident (Hebrews 3:6) and assured. Nobody understands our pain better than Jesus, which is why only Jesus can be our High Priest as well as the substitute for our payment of sin (Hebrews 2:18).
John 1:9, ESV: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
According to John, though believers are forgiven at the point of salvation, there is also an ongoing sense in which believers need to confess sin and experience forgiveness and cleansing.
When we argue with others, it creates a barrier to fellowship. Since a barrier between us and God will always be our fault, our need for confession is important for our relationship with God.
II. HE IS GOOD
God is GOOD and GOOD is God! God is good, ALL the time; and ALL the time, God is good! To be good is to be kind. Somebody good is kindhearted, generous, gracious, compassionate, and merciful. Dear reader, in your own words, what does the goodness of God mean to you?
A story was told of a man who saw when a snake was dying burned and decided to take it out of the fire, but when it did, the snake bit him. By the reaction of pain, the man released her and the animal fell back into the fire and was burning again. The man tried to pull it out again and again the snake bit him. Someone who was watching approached the man and said:
- excuse me, but you're stubborn! Don't you understand that every time you try to get her out of the fire, she's gonna bite?
The man replied:
- the nature of the snake is biting, and that's not gonna change mine, which is to help. It is like a snake to bite, it is also in my nature to be kind. So, with the help of a piece of iron, the man took out the snake from the fire and saved her life.
The man is so good that the constant attitude of the snake could not stop him from saving her from the fire. How much more is the Almighty God showing His goodness towards us? The psalmist says that God is good. It's not just what He does; it's who He is -- and who He is never changing.
The main Old Testament words for good/goodness come from the Hebrew word 'tob' while the most common New Testament words are 'Kalos', 'agathos', 'Christos' and their cognates.
The most theologically important uses of these words have to do with moral qualities.
God's goodness is a bedrock truth of Scripture. His goodness is praised in the psalms. Jesus affirms the Father's goodness when speaking to the rich young ruler.
In Scripture God's goodness appears most clearly in his dealings with people. He is not only good in general, but He is good to us.
The Apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 ESV). God’s goodness is an attribute of His unchanging character.
The goodness of God is one of the attributes of God, as well as a description of His very essence. God, by nature, is inherently good, as Psalm 34:8 tells us: "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” He is the foundation of goodness and everything good—He did not obtain it from another source. He is self-sufficient and the source of all goodness.
II. GOD IS LOVE
God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love.
He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.
"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8
"God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." 1 John 4:16
"Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:26
"Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love." Joel 2:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole passage, God is too good, loving and forgiving! This is good news to you and me who believes in His name.
This year is your year of divine expectations as God continues to make his forgiving, goodness and loving nature pass before you. Satan is a liar. God is not mad at you! In as much as this does not give us the yardstick to be committing sins, We should always learn to confess our wrongs to the Almighty and His blood will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Shalom Aleichem!
