Forgiveness - Pt. 2

Forgiveness - Part II

Archived on May 29, 1999

Part II

Hello! God Bless you, we have now come to second part of this series on Forgiveness. In the first part we laid the ground work for what forgiveness is and how to get it. Now let's do a little comparing between the Old Covenant(Testament) and the New Covenant. When some do this it calls for a lot of confusion, in knowing what to do about a situation. We are going to try and keep it simple like it should be and touch on some things that occurred when one sought forgiveness in the Old Testament.

First; what was the Old covenant?
God had chosen Abraham and his children to be a people to him. They were to be God's chosen people. For this covenant, Abraham was told by God to circumcise every child when reaching eight days old, and all the men of his household.
Genesis 35:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
It is through this bloodline that God would carry out his plan. Abraham followed in faith, by doing what God had said to do. His children were eventually led into captivity in Egypt. God remembered his covenant that he had made with Abraham, that he would bring them into the land of Canaan, so he chose Moses as their leader. God would use Moses to bring his people out of Egypt so that they could serve him.
Exodus 9:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
After the famous plagues took place, finally Pharoah allows them to leave and the children would be on their way to the land that was promised. Soon God would establish laws to his children. This would be the schoolmaster, to let them realize when they had done wrong. It is the Ten Commandments, along with the health laws and the moral laws. It is these laws, statutes and ordinances that they should follow. If one of these were broken, forgiveness would have to be sought. There was and is only ONE way to recieve atonement for a sin. This atonement could only come through the shedding of blood.
Exodus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
It is the blood that "pays" for the sin that was committed. If the person broke a commandment, there was always a certain animal to be sacrificed to God for atonement. God gave this blood to be our atonement. It was not really the blood that gave the pardon, but their faith and love toward God in doing what he had instructed them to do.
This was the old covenant, if a sin was committed then blood was to be shed. But what happened? Why was there a new covenant needed then?
Malachi 1:13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
The children began bringing sacrifices that were not as God had asked. instead of Lambs and Bulls without blemish, they began bringing those that had disease and other things wrong with them. Why would they do this? This is only the beginning of why he didn't want to accept their offerings anymore.
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
As you see here their offerings had become a heartless ritual that they did. They no longer loved God, they only went through the motiions of sacrifice, not really feeling remorse for what they had done. The word VAIN in verse 13 brings this out more:
H7723. shav', shawv; or ` shav, shav; from the same as H7722 in the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), lit. (ruin) or mor. (espec. guile); fig. idolatry (as false, subj.) uselessness (as deceptive, obj.; also adv. in vain):
They were trying to decieve God into thinking they were sorry. You can't fool God.They had also incorporated false rituals from other cultures into their worship. Things that he did not want such as idol worship.
This is really the main reason, they lost their love for the their Father, and went after other gods. But God let them know that the day would come when he would bring them back to him, and instead of it being only ritual. It would be a reality instead of a religion.
Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
This would be that, the laws would become second nature to those of this new covenant. It would no longer be a ritual but something they would love to do, because they loved the Father. Now we go to the New Testament. ...

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Here in the new testament we find this exact same account, the letter to the Hebrews of how that this new covenant was to come into being. In this new covenant, there was still blood needing to be shed.
Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
This is Jesus speaking to the disciples on the Passover meal just before he went to the cross to be crucified for our sins.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
He became our propitiation(sacrifice). It is his blood that as in the old testament, gives us atonement for our soul.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
While we were in our sins, living in iniquity, God sent his Son to die for us. To shed his blood for us so that we could have REAL life! That is the bottom line, LOVE!
Hebrews 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Through the Holy Spirit, that baptizing of the Holy Spirit, we are renewed in our minds to serve the LIVING GOD. This is the new covenant, the new testament.
Our Forgiveness comes from Grace through the faith of the blood of Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful gift to have, not to abuse it, but to truly love the Father. If you truly love him, you fulfill the law automatically. I will get into this in the next part of this series on Forgiveness. Until Next time...
Love and Peace.....
Carl Towns

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