7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
the forgiveness
Paul further detailed redemption as “forgiveness of sins.” Christ’s death immediately released us from the penalty of sin. It rescued us from personally paying the price for our sins. Complete removal of the penalty for sin is fundamental for our relationship with God (Ps 103:12; Is 44:22; Jer 31:34; Mic 7:19; Mt 26:28). It took Christ’s death alone to provide forgiveness from God.
“Forgiveness” comes from a word that means to send away. By forgiving us, God released us from the consequence of our sin. The non-biblical world used “forgiveness” as a legal term that meant to repay or cancel a debt. The blood of Christ cancelled our debt to God.
of sins [trespasses],
The word “sins” here is not the normal word for sin. The idea here is of transgressions (Ro 4:25; 5:16-17, 20; Eph 2:1:5). A “transgression” is a violation of a definite law clearly set forth. To transgress means to step across a line or clear boundary. This is when we leave the path of truth or God’s solution to sin. When we step across what God defined as sin and His solution to sin, we transgress His clear standard. It took the death of Christ to correct that problem, the expression of God’s grace.
PRINCIPLE:
Redemption is an acquittal, not a pardon.
APPLICATION:
When God redeems us in Christ, He wipes sin from our account fully and permanently. God attaches no sin to our account ever again.
There is a difference between divine and human forgiveness. Human forgiveness means that we will not punish the person who offended us. The other person deserves the penalty but the judgment is not imposed. This is what we call Christian forgiveness. However, divine forgiveness rests on the penalty being accomplished. Human forgiveness takes place before the punishment is executed. Human law demands that a penalty must be paid. Divine forgiveness depends on the penalty being executed.
God’s righteousness demands that He executes a penalty for sin. He executed that penalty by sending Christ to die on the cross. God cannot forgive us without someone paying the price. The good news is that Jesus paid the price for our sin. Forgiveness always rests on the blood of Christ (Co 1:14). An absolute God, whose character cannot change, cannot forgive without a payment for sin.
God not only forgives our past sins but also our present and future sins. Jesus paid for any sin we could possibly commit. The transaction is done. There is nothing left for us to do about our sins. He paid for them with one fell swoop. He does not have to do it over and over; He did it once for all. The immense magnitude of the fact that He would die for our sins is hard to calculate.
Christians often have difficulty in accepting the fact that they are fully, freely, and eternally forgiven (Is 44:22; Mic 7:18-19). We do not deserve forgiveness, but it is free for any who will accept it by faith. Forgiveness is also complete; there is nothing that we need to do to get it. All of it was given freely by Jesus Christ (Co 2:13; 1 Jn 2:12). Every Christian is fully forgiven forever. There are no exceptions.
Ps 103:12, As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Ac 13:38-39, Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Christians sin after their salvation, but they do not need any further forgiveness for their salvation. We have redemption forever. We do need to claim our positional forgiveness for daily sins (1 Jn 1:9). The one kind of forgiveness is eternal and the other temporal.
