Hebrews 10:16-18; “‘ This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ declares the Lord; I will put My laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then He adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)
Up until our Savior provided us a perfect pathway to forgiveness, priests had to make regular sacrifices for everyone’s sins. First, they had to sacrifice animals for their own sins, then for the sins of all their followers. The blood of bulls and goats did not wash away their sins, but God allowed them temporarily until a permanent solution took place.
Jesus had absolutely no sin from the moment of His birth as a human, all the way to His death on a cruel cross. Therefore, He did not require a sacrifice for Himself – He was the sacrifice. His sinless blood was shed so that all of mankind who would receive and accept His free gift could receive forgiveness through Him. This was a one-time-for-all sacrifice that is good throughout the existence of this present earth. God raised Jesus on the third day to show sin and death had officially been conquered.
One point here: to receive this precious gift, we must choose it of our own free will. Once we call on Jesus to save us and to be our eternal Savior (Romans 10:9-13), we become a member of the Shepherd’s flock. This does not mean we will be sinless from then on, but when, not if, we sin, we have a pure covenant from the Father that we can be forgiven. The procedure is in 1 John 1:8-10, and it consists of confessing our sins and asking His forgiveness.
Do not add anything to this. Jesus paid completely for the sins of those who have called on Him, and to think we can do anything for our own redemption is totally wrong. Also, God knows we will sin as long as we are in these human bodies, and He is absolutely merciful toward us because of the grace given at Calvary by His Son.
Psalm 103:11-13; “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.”
Please note, when we’re told to “fear” the Lord, this does not mean the frightful or horror type of fear. We are being asked to “respect Him fully.” The fact that our Heavenly Father is our Creator, and without His great Love for us, we could be pitiful creatures, to say the least.
God wants no one to fail and be separated from Him forever, but He will allow us to choose this of our own free will. He created a beautiful archangel, Lucifer, who developed a real pride issue. Because there’s no forgiveness available for any heavenly host that sins, God created a lake of fire where they will spend eternity (Matthew 25:41). Sadly, all humans who were out of the will of God prior to Calvary, and all who reject Jesus from Calvary to the end of the Millennial Reign of the Savior, will join them there. That’s found in Revelation 20:11-15.
The fact that the Father is willing to forgive us of every sin we’ve ever committed and every sin we will commit here on earth is just amazing. The only unforgivable sin right now is to take your last breath on this earth without Jesus as your Savior. During the Tribulation/Wrath, there will be another unforgivable sin, and that will be to take the mark of the beast, which signifies giving allegiance to him and rejecting the Savior.
Isaiah 44:22 states, “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to Me for I have redeemed you.” Throughout the Bible, there are many references to God’s love for us. The most familiar one is John 3:16. The key, though, is not just being forgiven but His “Forgetting My Yesterdays.” Only a Supreme Lord God Jehovah could accomplish this completely.
To bring this point home, a wonderful couple released a song in 2010 called “Forgetting My Yesterdays.” The song is on an album titled “It’s Time,” and the songs were all written by Dale Golden, and they are performed by him and his lovely wife Cheryl. The entire song is very inspiring, especially the refrain.
1.) I struggle in my daily walk to be all I should be, lean upon Your word to be like You. Yet every time I stumble, it seems You’re there, Lord, to lift me up. Your forgiveness helps me start each day renewed.
Ref) So thank You for forgetting my yesterdays. Unmerited favor, You give me every day. Though so unworthy of Your merciful ways, Lord, thank You for forgetting my yesterdays.
2.) How can mercy shine its radiant light into my own disgrace when I am but a sinner lost in shame? And bring the dawn of promise into a new day’s saving grace; such compassion only found in Your great grace. (Ref x 2)
Though so unworthy of Your merciful ways, Lord, thank You for forgetting my yesterdays.
All so-called man-generated deities supposedly demand works, contributions, and blind loyalty to do whatever their gods demand. Our Heavenly Father, the one and only true God, asks us to honor His Son Jesus by receiving and accepting the free gift of eternal life with Him. For this, we are promised an eternal, immortal body and a mindset pure as the Savior’s, which will never be subject to temptation again.
For many, this just seems too easy, and there must be more to getting into Heaven. Satan is all too willing to put enticing things in their paths, so they will accept what this earth offers over what Jesus has provided. He has been the ultimate source of evil from the beginning, and his line, “Did God Really Say?” still draws souls away from eternal life (Genesis 3).
Jesus is fully aware of this and knew that more would be on the broad road leading to destruction than would be on the straight and narrow path leading to eternal life with Him (Matthew 7:13-14). He will force no one to follow Him but will gladly receive all who truly will call on Him to be a part of His precious flock.
There is coming a day in the near future when all true believers will be taken from this earth to avoid the coming wrath. That’s a covenant from the Father, and He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). We will be taken up to meet Jesus in the air and be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
One part of the refrain of this marvelous song reverberates through my mind; “Though so unworthy of Your merciful ways, Lord, Thank You for forgetting my yesterdays.” And also from the second stanza, “Such compassion only found in Your great grace.”
Please consider your relationship with the Savior today. If you have not asked Him to come into your heart, forgive you of your sins, and be your Savior forever, right now would not be too early to do so. Your reservation will be made, and your eternal destination will be changed forever. You too will say “Maranatha” – Come Lord Jesus!
Shalom!