24. According to the riches of his grace

Numbers 14:17   And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Exodus 34:6-7     The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Psalms 103:8   The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Micah 7:18     Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Nahum 1:2-3    The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.  The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Romans 3:24-26     and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:7-8     In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  which he lavished upon us

It is hard to explain forgiveness of sin to those who do not believe in God, Sin, Judgment, Anger, Wrath, Redemption, and Salvation.  As a believer we have had our heart and mind opened up to know God and the need of salvation.  I wonder if we limit our understanding of what this means.  God reached out, He called us, He demonstrated His love for us, He opened our understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, He showed us the need for redemption, He provided a sacrifice for our sin, He sent Jesus Christ His only son to die for us, He forgave us, He gave us new birth, He promised to never leave us or forsake us, He promised eternity with Him, He gives us peace, rest, joy, faith, hope, and love, He filled us with His Holy Spirit, He leads us, and He has plans and purposes for us.

We should never become complacent and neglectful of time with Him and His word.  Commit to reading it everyday.

Securing an eternal redemption

“Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,”

Psalms 111:9  He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!

 Psalms 130:7-8    O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

 Exodus 15:13    “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

 Isaiah 44:6    Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

 Isaiah 63:9    In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

 Matthew 1:21    She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

 Luke 1:68     “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people

 Ephesians 1:7    In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

 Ephesians 1:14    who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

 Titus 2:14    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 Hebrews 9:12     he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

 1 Peter 1:18-20     knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,  but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.  He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

 Exodus 15:11     “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Our redemption came at a cost, in an act of love, full of grace and mercy.  What action would you associate in the form of thankfulness for this great gift of remotion? Would it come in the form of trust, hope, patience, love, faith, and peace?  Would it inspire actions of good works.  Would it come out in the from of praise?  Would it sing songs of praise?  Would it speak kindly? Would it seek to be nearer and nearer to God’s presence?  Would it promote forgiveness?  It does us good to consider all that is found in Christ and live so that His light is seen.

Transgressions Blotted Out

” Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

“So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Psalms 25:7  Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

Psalms 79:8   Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low

Psalms 109:14   May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

Isaiah 38:17   Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Isaiah 43:25   “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins

Isaiah 64:9    Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever

Hebrews 8:12  For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”  then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Proverbs 5:7-14   And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.  Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,  lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,  lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,  and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,  and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.  I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.”.

Psalms 51:1  Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Ephesians 2:4-8  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It scripture is very clear and people are recorded knowing they were without hope and dead in their sin unless God in His mercy: “blotted it out”, “remembered it no more”, “cast their sin behind His back”.  They understood there was nothing they could do to remove this sin from before God.  They had great understanding of God’s judgement of sin and they were helpless before Him.  Before Christ they had faith in laying their sin at God’s feet and trusting His mercy to not count it against them.  They confessed that they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God.  We also read that all of mankind is without excuse because thought they new God they have chosen not to honor Him or give thanks to Him.  So what is a person to do to be right with God?  Confess you are a sinner, repent and turn away from your previous ways of living, believe, and trust in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and then live your life with a heart, mind, and soul desire to humbly serve, honor, and glorify God in all you do, think, and say.  “For by grace your are saved”!!!!!!