This month’s exhortation and the continuing series on parables complement one another to an important end If thoughtfully considered, they should help us more effectively appreciate the grace of our Lord every day of our lives, as well as at the memorial table.
Keeping aware of our desperate need
The exhortation develops the importance of keenly realizing our desperate need for the grace of God In addition to the points it mentions, we would note how the apostle Paul continually realized his need He never forgot his former sins.
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord [for] putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor, and injurious …Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (I Tim 112-15)
When these words were penned, Paul’s sins were over 20 years in the past He had long ago reformed and was now an example to the believers of faith, loving concern for the brethren and utter devotion to his Lord He could say “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen m me, do and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil 4 9) To the Thessalonians he wrote “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe” (I Thess 2:10)
Far from being a persecutor of the church, Paul’s conversion had resulted in one wholly devoted to preaching the gospel Yet he never forgot what he had been Speaking of his apostleship m another place, he said “I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God But by the grace of God I am what I am” (I Cor 15:9-10)
Forgiveness does not equal forgetting
Paul’s sins had been forgiven at the point of his baptism “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins” had been the instruction of Ananias Since his persecution of the church had been forgiven, why not let it fade from memory? If God had forgiven, hadn’t God forgotten? So why shouldn’t Paul?
Obviously God had not forgotten Paul’s persecution and blasphemy is on record for all time, no Bible reader forgets it.
From this we observe an important principle forgiveness does not equal forgetting. The point comes through clearly in the parable of “The Unmerciful Servant” considered in the series on parables The servant’s debt, mercifully forgiven, was not forgotten as it was reinstated by his angry lord As a forgiven man, the servant had gone free, as if the debt was never incurred Upon his own refusal to forgive, however, he found the lord fully remembered his indebted past.
We cannot lightly dismiss this process as simply being the language of parable, our Lord applies the lesson to us “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (Matt 18 35) If we refuse to forgive others, even those sins God had previously forgiven will be remembered against us — that is the application of the parable to us.
Clearly, forgiveness does not mean forgetting, it means treating the sinner as if he had not sinned against us That’s what God does to us, we who were alienated from Him by our sins (i.e. regarded as His enemies), are reconciled by His gracious forgiveness He teats us as if we were not sinners but wholly righteous people who are His friends.
But God’s grace continues only so long as we reflect His grace m our own lives If we return to the hateful works of the flesh, all the benefits we had gamed are lost.
David remembered
No Bible reader forgets David’s adultery and murder In his own lifetime, David never forgot, as his iniquity occasioned the enemies of God to blaspheme and brought unending trouble into his own family (II Sam 12 11-14) His sins were forgiven but not forgotten.
There was this benefit David remained fully aware of his own desperate need for God, and his Psalms, more than ever, overflowed with praise of the mercy of God.
“For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.. thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me” (Psa 86 5,15-16)
Thankful but not despondent
Remembering our own wickedness could be depressing, driving us to a morbid state of mind. That didn’t happen to Paul or David because they knew God had forgiven them We have this same confidence if, believing in our Savior, our attitude is one of humble confession and our walk is in the light Confident of forgiveness, we can reflect on our past sins to the same end as the worthies of old Realizing our desperate need for the grace given us, our hearts overflow with thanksgiving and praise for the mercy of God upon which we rely With such an attitude, our remembrance of the death and resurrection of Christ is effective and edifying.
No grievous sins?
Most of us have never persecuted the church or committed adultery and murder But we can examine our past through the eyes of scripture to see the greatness of our need for grace.
The exhortation section helps by pointing out the seriousness of sins of ignorance and omission Maybe we haven’t murdered anyone, but have we killed someone’s faith by our harshness, hypocrisy or neglect? Perhaps we can’t look back on years of persecuting believers, but we can reflect on wasted years — years pursuing selfish interests with no thought to the will of God or the debt we have to proclaim the saving gospel to others.
Sins that are not so dramatic
It may be we have grown up in a home which had the Truth and were disciples in training from our earliest memory (another article provides a balanced look at our “having the Truth”) As such, we may have never blasphemed or despised God Since we avoided these grosser sins, we may not recognize our desperate state and fail to appreciate all God has done for us.
The exhortation urges us to take a closer look Perhaps we haven’t indulged in fornication or adultery, but we can remember filling our minds with the lustful themes of books and movies Even if we have not blasphemed God, have we emulated the profane language of the world? We may know all about the atonement but have held bitter grudges against others and railed at people with unbridled tongues.
The words of James teach all of us of our desperate need.
“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27)
Every one of us can look back on stretches m our lives when we have, because of our neglect, effectively despised the principles of our God.
We commend to you the material that follows as we feel it will help us recognize our sins and more effectively appreciate the forgiveness we experience.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One