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In His full salvation, God first forgives us of our sins and cleanses us of our sins. When we receive God’s full salvation, the first items we enjoy are God’s forgiveness of our sins and His cleansing away of our sins.
1) “Everyone who believes into Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).
Forgiveness of sins is the first part of our redemption, and it is received by us at the moment we believe. Our first problem before God is that there is a record of sin because of our sinful deeds. Only when our record is cleared can the righteousness of God release us. Unless our sinful deeds before Him are eliminated, the righteous God cannot grant us the remaining items of His redemption. Therefore, we first need to have God’s forgiveness of our sins.
1) Being delivered from the penalty of God’s righteousness — “He who believes into Him is not judged” (John 3:18).
First, forgiveness of sins means the elimination of our record of sin before God that we may be delivered from the penalty of God’s righteousness. Because we had a record of sin before God and were condemned, we should have suffered God’s righteous punishment. But when God forgave us, He delivered us from His righteous penalty and condemned us no longer.
2) Causing the sins to leave the forgiven ones — “Give...forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31); “The Lord hath laid on him [Christ] the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6); “Himself [Christ] carried up our sins in His body onto the tree [the cross]” (1 Pet. 2:24).
In the New Testament the Greek word for forgiveness means “causing (it) to leave” and “sending away.” When God forgives us of our sins, He not only eliminates our record of sin before Him but also causes the sins which we have committed to depart from us. This is because, when God made the Lord Jesus our offering for sin on the cross, He laid all our sins on Him that He might carry them for us. Furthermore, when God caused the Lord Jesus to carry our sins on the cross to suffer God’s judgment and punishment in our place, He also caused all our sins to be laid on Satan that he should bear them forever. This is revealed in type in the atonement recorded in Leviticus 16. Sin came from Satan and was passed on to us, resulting in our having a record of sin before God. God put all our sins on the Lord Jesus that He might carry them all to suffer God’s punishment for us and cancel our record of sin before God. Having done this, God gave all our sins back to Satan that he might bear them himself. In this way, God is able to forgive the sins of the forgiven ones and cause their sins to leave them. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12).
3) Forgetting the sins of the forgiven ones — “I [God] will be propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I will by no means remember anymore” (Heb. 8:12).
When God forgives the forgiven ones of their sins, He also forgets their sins. When God forgives our sins, He not only cancels our record of sin and causes our sins to depart from us, but in Himself He also forgets our sins. Once He forgives us, He erases our sins from His memory and will by no means remember them anymore.
1) “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
God’s forgiveness of sins is based on the shedding of blood for redemption. Because He is righteous, God cannot forgive men’s sins without a cause. His righteousness requires that all who sin must die (Ezek. 18:4). Unless His righteous requirement is satisfied, His righteousness cannot allow Him to forgive sinners of their sins. But since the Lord Jesus died and shed His blood on the cross according to the righteousness of God, thus satisfying God’s righteous requirement, God can legally forgive men of their sins according to His righteousness. The Lord Jesus said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Since the blood of the Lord Jesus was shed for men according to God’s righteousness, thus fulfilling God’s righteous requirement, it has become the basis upon which the sins of those who believe in Him may be forgiven.
1) Repentance — “Repentance for forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47).
Repenting unto God is the first step for sinners to receive God’s forgiveness of sins.
2) Faith — “Everyone who believes into Him [Christ] receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).
On the negative side, to repent is to turn away from sins, while on the positive side, to believe is to believe into Christ. To believe into Christ is to enter into Him and to be joined to Him. This is the second step for us to receive God’s forgiveness of sins. This step immediately follows repentance.
1) Fearing God — “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psa. 130:4).
God’s forgiveness of sins causes us to fear Him. The more we enjoy God’s forgiveness of sins, the more we fear God.
2) Loving God — “Her sins which are many have been forgiven, because she [the sinful woman] loved much” (Luke 7:47).
This was the word spoken by the Lord regarding the sinful woman whose sins He had forgiven. The clause “because she loved much” does not refer to the reason for which the Lord forgave her. Rather, it refers to the testimony of her being forgiven by the Lord. Her loving the Lord much testified that she was forgiven by the Lord much. The more we are forgiven by the Lord, the more we love the Lord. Therefore, loving the Lord is an issue of being forgiven by the Lord.
1) “He [God] may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
This word here shows us that God’s cleansing us from our sins closely follows His forgiving us of our sins. When He forgives us of our sins, at the same time He cleanses us from our sins.
1) “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa. 51:7); “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).
When God forgives us of our sins, He exempts us from the penalty of sins; when God cleanses us from our sins, He erases the traces of our sins. If there were only the forgiveness of sins and not the cleansing away of sins, although our sins might be forgiven, the traces of our sins would still remain. Forgiveness is a legal procedure, whereas cleansing is an actual clearance. Concerning God’s righteous law, our sins need to be forgiven. Concerning the traces of sins in us, our sins need to be washed away. Thus, in God’s full salvation, He not only removes our record of sin before Him according to the righteousness of His law, but He also cleanses away the traces of sins in us. His cleansing away of our sins makes us as white as snow and as wool. The cleansing that makes us as white as snow is a positional cleansing from without; the cleansing that makes us white as wool is a cleansing of our nature from within.
1) “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
God’s cleansing us from our sins is of two aspects. One is in our outward position, while the other is in our inward nature. God’s outward and positional cleansing from our sins is through the blood of the Lord Jesus. The blood of the Lord Jesus, the God-man, outwardly and positionally cleanses us from all sin.
1) “Who [Christ]...having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).
This refers to the Lord Jesus who purified us from our sins before God once for all by the shedding of His blood on the cross, thus making us positionally pure before God and before His law.
1) “The blood of Christ...purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14).
The blood of the Lord does not purify our heart but our conscience within. Since the Lord’s blood cleanses us from our sins before God and His law, it also purifies our conscience before itself, thus enabling us to serve our living God with boldness.
1) “The washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5); “But you were washed...in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).
These two verses show us the life of God that regenerates us and our being cleansed by His Spirit. This is an inward cleansing in our nature by His life and by His Spirit. When we are regenerated, we receive God’s life and we have God’s Spirit dwelling in us. When God’s life grows in us and His Spirit moves in us, a metabolic function takes place which removes and washes away the uncleanness in our nature, in our disposition. Thus, we enjoy the cleansing away of sins in God’s full salvation both in our outward position and in our inward disposition.
