The believer’s relationship with God is twofold consisting of a positional relationship and one of practice. Positionally, the believer enjoys Christ’s imputed righteousness (Romans 4:6-8). In this position, the believer has been forgiven of all trespasses (past, present, and future) (Colossians 2:13). John confirmed this truth as he wrote to believers saying that their sins were already forgiven (1 John 2:12). Because of God's complete forgiveness, sins can never and will never affect a man’s position in Christ. However, man must also consider his practice (his daily walk before the Lord).The sins that cannot harm a man’s position in Christ can adversely hinder his fellowship with the Lord. Though all our sins are forgiven, we still should daily confess our sins to the Lord in order to keep our fellowship right (1 John 1:9).
Prior to salvation, every individual comes to understand the need for forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is directly associated to the nature of man’s relationship with God. Yet, apart from the need for initial forgiveness, most Christians have a very shallow concept of how the Bible defines forgiveness in general. According to scripture, forgiveness is directly connected to the covering of sin (Psalm 32:1). Psalm 32 does not stand alone as Psalm 85:2 exhibits the same association: “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.” It is important to understand the Bible correlation of something being forgiven and covered. Interestingly, the Bible connects being forgiven and covered with financial expressions. For example, the Bible uses forgiveness as a financial term in Matthew 6:12. The term forgiveness suggests a removal of responsibility, while the term covered suggests that the debt was settled by another.
The Christian life is a life of continual blessings, though it also contains many experiences in life's difficulties. The believer is blessed by God’s provisions in the past and offered hope through God’s promised future provisions. Psalm 68:19 proclaims that the Lord “daily loadeth us with benefits.” These benefits include both spiritual and physical blessings of salvation, answered prayers, good health, and family. However, David specifically described the blessedness of a man imputed righteousness apart from his works. Our passage records his words as he proclaimed, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.” Though forgiven of past, present, and future sin, man's capacity for sinning remains unabated within his natural body. Every faithful Bible student knows never to minimize forgiveness of one's sin as one of the greatest blessings of all!
The subject of forgiveness would fill volumes yet never exhaust the depths of its meaning. The study for the next two weeks will provide the reader with a deeper understanding and greater appreciation concerning the necessity for faith in the Christian life. We embark on this study by offering a basic meaning for the word forgiveness. Three scripture passages reveal the association of forgiveness to covering (Psalm 32:1; Psalm 85:2; Romans 4:7). The first passage further reveals that the covering of sin is directly connected to forgiving of transgression. The second two verses connect the covering of sin to the forgiving of iniquity. With these truths in mind, the act of forgiving someone involves the act of cancelling the penalty for wrongdoing. As the wrongdoing is forgiven, whether it be sin, transgression, or iniquity, the offense is covered as it is forgiven. This covering does not suggest placing a covering over the wrongdoing to hide it, but the act of taking care of its penalty.
