The Gospel in Ten Words by Paul Ellis Read Free Book Online

10:4).
    Perhaps
you have heard that “God won’t forgive you if you are harboring unforgiveness
in your heart.” Under the law that Jesus preached, that was true. But the
law-keeping covenant was fulfilled at the cross. Those who maintain we must
forgive to be forgiven are confused about the finished work of Calvary. They
will draw your attention to those scriptures that say forgiveness is
conditional while ignoring those that say it isn’t.
    We
need to have a whole Bible theology but that does not mean “read everything
indiscriminately and hope for the best.” That would be like going to the drug
cabinet and swallowing every pill in sight. A whole Bible theology means you
read the written word through the lens of the Living Word. It means you filter
everything you read through Christ and his finished work on the cross.
    Look
at the figure below and you will see a consistent pattern of preaching
conditional forgiveness prior to the cross and uncon-ditional forgiveness after
the cross. Before the cross Jesus preached forgiveness as a law to be kept;
after the cross he said it was a gift to be received (Acts 26:18). The cross
really did change everything.
     
     

     

New covenant nouns
     
    On the day he rose
from the dead, Jesus immediately began to preach a different message from the
law-based sermons he had delivered before the cross. Recall that before the
cross Jesus preached conditional forgiveness; forgive to be forgiven. But after
the cross he preached this:
     
    This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the
dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be
preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46 – 47)
     
    Now take a moment to go and check that passage in your
own Bible. What does it say? Does it say “repentance
for
forgiveness” or
“repentance
and
forgiveness”? The difference is huge. Repent-ance for forgiveness is what John
the Baptist preached. It’s forgiveness conditional on you turning from sin.
It’s a verb for a verb.
    But this is not what Jesus is saying here. He doesn’t use
verbs for repentance and forgiveness but nouns. [13] He’s saying, “From now on, forgiveness is not something God does, it’s
something he’s
done
.”
    This becomes clear when we read the verse in the King
James Bible:
     
    Repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations , beginning at Jerusalem . (Luke 24:47, KJV)
     
    Forgiveness that has taken place is called remission.
When were our sins remitted? On the cross. During the Last Supper, the Lamb of
God said he would take away the sins of the world when he died:
     
    This is my blood of
the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
(Matthew 26:28)
     
    Where was the Lord’s blood poured out? At the cross.
Where were all your sins forgiven? At the cross.
     

The thing about the Thing
     
    Forgiveness
in the new covenant is a noun not a verb; it’s a gift not a work. It’s
something God gives, not something he does. (He’s done it already.) This can be
hard for us to understand because this is not how the world works. When you sin against
someone, your relationship with that person comes under strain. There’s this
Thing
that comes between
the two of you. To be reconciled you need to deal with the
Thing
. Jesus said if you
are bringing your gift to the altar and you remember your brother has some
Thing
against you, go and
deal with that
Thing
(see Matthew 5:23). If your brother sins against you seven times in a day and
seven times says, “I repent,” forgive him. “Send that
Thing
away” (see Luke
17:4).
    All this we know and understand. But here’s the thing.
God is not like you or me. He doesn’t wait for you to act before he does his
thing with your
Thing
.
That
Thing
that
was between you and him—your sin—he dealt with at the cross. Since God is not
limited by time or space, he did not need to wait for you to start