We must see and realize that in the kingdom of God and in the Bible there are more than one kind of forgiveness – there are at least five, the first three being eternal forgiveness, instrumental forgiveness, and restorative forgiveness.
In the Bible the word forgiveness is mentioned many times, but it doesn’t refer to the same kind of forgiveness.
For example, in Eph. 4:32 we were forgiven by God in Christ. In John 20:23 the disciples were given the authority to forgive, “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven”. In 1 John 1:9 we are told that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us.
In Matt. 6:14-15 it says that if we forgive others, God will forgive us, but if we don’t forgive, we will not be forgiven. In James 5:15 we are told that the one who has sinned should come to the elders to come and pray for him, and he will be forgiven.
The same word “forgive” or “forgiveness” is used, but this word refers to more than one kind of forgiveness.
If we do not see this matter, we may make a serious error in our dealing with others in the kingdom, for we may think that one kind of forgiveness should apply, when actually it is another kind that applies, and we may even damage God’s government.
Especially the responsible brothers and the elders in a locality need to realise that they are part of God’s administration, part of His government on earth, and there are five kinds of forgiveness.
For example, if we as a citizen commit a crime, it is not good and we will be under the rule of the law, but it’s not that big of a deal; however, if a judge or a policeman commits a crime, then the whole justice system will crumble, and the governmental and justice system will be affected.
We need to know that there is such a thing as eternal forgiveness (related to life, God forgiving all our sins eternally at the time of our regeneration), instrumental forgiveness (related to the church, God gave authority to the church to proclaim forgiveness of sins), restorative forgiveness (relates to fellowship, our fellowship of God is restored when we confess our sins and He forgives us), governmental forgiveness (related to discipline), and kingdom forgiveness (related to administration).
In this article we want to see more details on the first three kinds of forgiveness.
Eternal Forgiveness: God Forgave all our Sins when we Believed into the Lord Jesus!
The first kind of forgiveness mentioned in the Bible – and the most familiar with all the believers in Christ – is the eternal forgiveness, which relates to life. This is the forgiveness that comes with our salvation, spoken of by the Lord Jesus in Luke 24:47 and by Paul in Rom. 4:7.
When we repent and believe into the Lord, God forgives our sins – and He forgives them eternally! God casts our sins into the depths of the sea and the abyss, and He no longer sees or remembers our sins. Hallelujah!
This is the forgiveness we obtained at the time we were saved; when we believed into the Lord Jesus, we were forgiven of all our sins, and the Lord removed all our sins. After repentance we are left with no trace of sin before God. Hallelujah!
Despite our failures and shortcomings, we know that we have been forgiven by God, for He has given us His eternal life.
We repent of our sins, God imparts His divine life into us, and we become sons of God. Nothing can change that; we may be a disobedient son of God or a good son of God, but we are still sons of God, and God has forgiven all our sins!
And once we are forgiven by God, we are forgiven forever; we receive eternal life forever, and we are justified forever (see Luke 24:47; Rom. 4:7-8; Psa. 103:12).
When God looks at a regenerated sinner, He sees no trace of sin in him, for all his sins were forgiven before God, and they were cast away. Hallelujah!
A regenerated believer has no sin, for the moment we believe into the Lord Jesus, we were forgive all our sins,and the Lord removed all our sins – we are left with no trace of sin before God (Acts 10:43; Heb. 8:12). Praise the Lord!
Thank You Lord Jesus for forgiving us of all our sins at the time that we believed into You. Hallelujah for God’s eternal forgiveness granted to us freely! We have been redeemed, regenerated, forgiven by God, and justified before Him! Praise the Lord, at the moment we believe into the Lord Jesus, God forgives and removes all our sins, and we are left with no trace of sin before God! We praise and thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for God’s eternal forgiveness!
Instrumental Forgiveness: God’s Proclamation of Forgiveness through the Church
The second kind of forgiveness is the instrumental forgiveness, which relates to the church.
After breathing the Holy Spirit into His disciples after His resurrection, the Lord told them that He gave them the authority to forgive and retain people’s sins. This doesn’t mean that the church can in itself forgive others’ sins but rather, that God proclaims forgiveness through the church.
In sending the Holy Spirit to His church, the Lord charged the church to be His representatives on the earth; forgiveness is now granted through the church (John 20:22-23).
It is not that the church actually forgives people, but the church proclaims the forgiveness which God has granted.
Instrumental forgiveness, therefore, is God’s proclamation of forgiveness through man; if a person is newly saved but doesn’t 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, so You can thank Him because He has forgiven you of your sins!
The One who does the forgiving is God, but the instrument who proclaims it on the earth to man is the church.
Many times when someone believes into the Lord he does not have a realisation of what just happened; he may be very happy because he has received God’s life and he feels free from sin, but we as fellow believers need to proclaim the facts to him.
We need to tell every regenerated believer that, at the time of his regeneration, God has forgiven his sins! When Paul was baptised, Ananias proclaimed that God has forgiven him of his sins.
The church represents God today to be one with God and declare God’s forgiveness to man. The church has received the Holy Spirit and is under the authority of the Spirit, so the church has the authority to declare God’s forgiveness to man.
This is not a direct forgiveness but an indirect one, for God forgives man through the church as His channel. Eternal forgiveness is God’s direct forgiveness of men, and instrumental forgiveness is God’s proclamation of forgiveness through man.
Hallelujah, the church is under the authority of the Holy Spirit and it has the authority to proclaim God’s forgiveness to man! Amen, Lord Jesus, we stand on Your word and in the church, and we want to proclaim forgiveness of sins to all those who repent and believe into Your name! Thank You Lord we can be one with You in granting forgiveness to men, for the church is one with the Head and the Head forgives, while the church proclaims the forgiveness of sins! Praise the Lord!
Restorative Forgiveness: Confessing our Sins to be Forgiven by God and have our Fellowship Restored
Even though we believers in Christ have been forgiven of all our sins, and we realise this is a fact, we still sin, we still make mistakes, and we still fail.
As we are endeavoring to live the kingdom life in the church life, we fail, sin, make mistakes, and err, and we are taken out of the enjoyment of Christ. When we sin, our fellowship with the Lord is interrupted, and our joy goes away.
What we need is restorative forgiveness by confessing our sins and repenting before the Lord to receive His forgiveness and have our fellowship restored. 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).
We still remain sons of our heavenly Father, for our Father-son relationship with God in life can never be changed, but sin can damage our fellowship with God.
What we need to do is confess our sins and offenses before God before we can secure our forgiveness in fellowship (1 John 1:7, 9; 2:1-2). Praise the Lord, we have an advocate with the Father, and when we confess our sins before the Lord, He forgives us of our sins and cleanses us of all unrighteousness.
This is something we experience nearly every day, for daily we make mistakes, offenses, and sins, and these interrupt our fellowship with the Lord.
In the things we say or do, we sin, and we have to come to the Lord to confess our sins. Once we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all our unrighteousness.
If we have offended our brothers, we must confess to them as well (see Matt. 5:23-24). If we have offended some of the brothers, we need to confess our sins and offenses not only to God but also to the ones that we have offended, seeking to be forgiven.
We need to maintain ourselves in constant fellowship with God; when we come to God, we have to acknowledge our sinful acts honestly before Him, and we need to ask for His forgiveness.
If we confess our sins and repent before the Lord, asking for His forgiveness, 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).
For us to live the Christian life we need to know the secret of maintaining ourselves in constant fellowship with God; if we fail, however, we must ask God for His forgiveness, and we must recover the sweet fellowship that we had with God (1 John 1:9).
Our Christian life is a life in the Lord, with the Lord, and before the Lord; we treasure our fellowship with Him, and we want to deal with anything that comes between us and Him, so that we may live in the kingdom of God in reality.
When we confess our sins under God’s light, we are restored in our fellowship with God.
Lord Jesus, thank You for providing a way for us to be restored to our fellowship with God even after we have sinned and made mistakes. Thank You we can come to You and confess our sins, repent, and receive Your forgiveness. Lord, may we know and practice the secret of the Christian life by maintaining ourselves in constant fellowship with God. May we return to You all the time, confess our sins, ask for God’s forgiveness, and recover the sweet fellowship that we had with God! Lord Jesus, we love You!
Read this article in Romanian – puteți citi acest articol în limba română aici:
Iertarea eternă, iertarea instrumentală și iertarea restauratoare.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 46, ch. 194, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 4, Living the Kingdom Life by Taking Care of Others according to the Spirit and by Realizing God’s Forgiveness.
- Hymns on this topic:
# All my sins are forgiven! / All my fetters are riven! / I enjoy peace of heaven! / Jesus saves me now! (Hymns #1065)
# God has forgiven all my sins; / Behind His back they all are cast. / He’ll never call to mind again / The sins He vanquished in the past. / God has forgiven all my sins, / And as a gloomy cloud is blown, / My sins are vanished all away! / No more will they be seen or known. (Hymns #1355)
# My habitual, heedless conduct / Full of self has ever been. / I abhor that I could stumble / Even one due to this sin. / I confess that I’m a sinner— / Laying hands on You within. / Wash me clean till I am spotless / And restore my inner man! (Song on, Through the blood, I come to You, Lord)
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