Ⅲ
We must see and realize that in the kingdom of God there are five kinds of forgiveness:
Ａ
There is eternal forgiveness—this relates to life:
１
The forgiveness that comes with our salvation is eternal forgiveness.
２
Once we are forgiven, we are forgiven forever; we receive eternal life forever, and we are justified forever (Luke 24:47; Rom. 4:7-8; Psa. 103:12).
３
The moment we believe into the Lord Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins; the Lord removes all our sins, and we are left with no trace of sin before God (Acts 10:43; Heb. 8:12).
Ｂ
There is instrumental forgiveness—this relates to the church:
１
In sending the Holy Spirit to His church, the Lord charged the church to be His representative on the earth; forgiveness is now granted through the church (John 20:22-23).
２
Instrumental forgiveness is God's proclamation of forgiveness through man; if a person is newly saved but does not know the meaning of forgiveness, it is good for a representative of the church to stand up and say to him, “You have accepted the Lord today; you can thank Him because He has forgiven you of your sins!”
Ｃ
There is restorative forgiveness—this relates to fellowship:
１
When we sin in our daily life, our conscience condemns us, and our fellowship with God is interrupted (Acts 24:16; 1 Tim. 1:5; 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3).
２
Our Father-son relationship with God in life can never be changed, but sin can damage our fellowship with God; we have to confess our sins and offenses to God before we can secure our forgiveness in fellowship (1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1-2).
３
If we have offended our brothers, we must confess to them as well (Matt. 5:23-24).
４
We have to maintain ourselves in constant fellowship with God; when we come to God, we have to acknowledge our sinful acts honestly and ask Him for forgiveness; if we do this, our fellowship with God will be restored, and our heart will be filled with the joy of salvation (Psa. 51:12; Prov. 15:13a; 17:22a; 15:15b).
５
The secret of the Christian life is maintaining ourselves in constant fellowship with God; if we fail, we must ask God for forgiveness, and we must recover the sweet fellowship that we had with God (1 John 1:9).
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 4:7 “Blessed are they whose lawlessnesses have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over.”John 20:22-23 ...He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained.
According to Ephesians 4:32, we were forgiven by God in Christ. According to John 20:23, the disciples have the authority to forgive: “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” According to 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He will forgive us. According to Matthew 6:14-15, if we forgive others, God will forgive us, and if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. According to James 5:15, if we have sinned and we ask the elders to come and pray for us, we will be forgiven. By reading these five passages we note that they all speak of the matter of forgiveness. They also speak of five different kinds of forgiveness, not just one kind. (CWWN, vol. 46, p. 1277)
Today's Reading
Let us call the forgiveness that comes with our salvation God's eternal forgiveness. This is the forgiveness spoken of by the Lord Jesus in Luke 24:47: “That repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” This is eternal forgiveness. The forgiveness spoken of in Romans 4:7 is eternal forgiveness as well.This forgiveness is called eternal forgiveness because once God forgives our sins, He forgives them eternally. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea and the abyss. He no longer sees or remembers our sins. This is the forgiveness we obtained at the time we were saved. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins; the Lord removes all of our sins, and we are left with no trace of sin before God. This is called eternal forgiveness.
God often tells man directly, “I forgive you.” But often He declares His forgiveness through the church: “God has forgiven your sins.” Therefore, the Bible shows us another kind of forgiveness which we call instrumental forgiveness. John 20:22-23 says, “And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained.” In sending the Holy Spirit to His church, the Lord charged the church to be His representative on earth. The church has become His vessel. Forgiveness is now granted through the church. This is called instrumental forgiveness....After the church receives the Holy Spirit, it has the power to retain and forgive sins. The church can declare that the sins of certain ones are retained, while the sins of others are forgiven. The church has such authority because it is under the authority of the Holy Spirit....This is a kind of indirect forgiveness. In this forgiveness God forgives men through the church; the church acts as His channel.
If a person has truly believed, you may say to him, “You have accepted the Lord today. You can thank Him because He has forgiven you of your sins!”...This is an exercise of the authority that the church has received from the Lord....Such a statement must be made under the authority of the Holy Spirit....This is the second kind of forgiveness described in the Bible. In this forgiveness, God does not forgive directly; He does it through the church. Eternal forgiveness is God's direct forgiveness of men. Instrumental forgiveness is God's proclamation of forgiveness through man. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 667-669)
After we have become a Christian, we often fall. We know that we should not and yet we do. The sins of the past have been forgiven and yet we sin again....If we sin after we have been saved, we lose our communion with God. We are still His sons, but we cannot look into His face....As a Christian we cannot lose our life, but we can lose fellowship with God....The Word says that if we confess our sins, we will be forgiven [1 John 1:9]....This forgiveness restores our fellowship. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1278-1279)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 46, ch. 194