The Perfection Of Forgiveness
Sections In This Study:
Part One - Forgiven Seventy Times Seven
Part Three - Sevenfold Covenants And The New Covenant
Part Four - The Spotless Lamb Of God (see below)
Part Five - The Perfection Of Christ
Part Six - We Are Spotless In The Eyes Of God
Part Seven - Sevenfold Forgiveness
Part Four - The Spotless Lamb Of God
Everlasting implies something has always existed and will always exist - from eternity past to eternity future. The word everlasting is associated in various places with the covenants God made with man, including the Gospel of salvation. We can see this from the beginning of the Word of God to the end. From the first covenant made with man after the flood to the last one emphasized in the book of Revelation - from Genesis 9:16 to Revelation 14:6. Though this is not a complete list, consider the following references to everlasting:
Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 45:17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (With the Gospel of John being the one main Gospel so many Christians print and distribute to present the Lord Jesus Christ to the lost in the communities they are trying to reach, it is no wonder the phrase "everlasting life" is used seven times in it: John 3:16, 36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:27, 40, 47.)
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 14:6-7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
The everlasting God loved us with an everlasting love and promises everlasting life (everlasting because we share in the life and love of God, which existed from all eternity) to all those who will believe in the everlasting Gospel, to all who will trust the Saviour (the Lord Jesus Christ) alone for salvation. This can also be seen in the Bible’s references to the foundation of the world.
Seven things are stated to have happened from or before the foundation of the world:
From the foundation of the world:
A. Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Though this prophecy is specifically applied to those who become believers during the tribulation period, all who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation throughout history will be resurrected and have a part in His Millennial kingdom. This kingdom has been prepared from the foundation of the world.
B. Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
God’s work of creation and the physical rest found in Him (ie. the sabbath and what it pictures in Christ) have been finished since the foundation of the world - though our spiritual rest (the work of redemption) was finished upon the cross of Calvary.
C. Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Before Adam and Eve ever fell into sin, the Godhead (ie. the Trinity) planned man’s salvation. Before there was ever any sin, there was a Saviour chosen, and the plan of salvation (the everlasting Gospel) was set in motion. Jesus was the Lamb of God - the chosen sacrifice - slain from the foundation of the world. This redemption was planned and nothing could prevent it from happening in due time. In the eyes of God, the plan of salvation was as good as done, though Jesus Christ dying upon the cross for the sins of the world was still yet many years off. Mankind had to wait for seventy seven generations (see Luke 3:23-38) before the Messiah finally came in the fulness of time.
D. Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
God knows the end from the beginning. In His perfect foreknowledge He knows all who will ever receive the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation found in Him. If you are saved, your name was written down when the Lord God was creating this world. If you have chosen to trust in Jesus Christ by grace through faith, you were not a surprise to God - your salvation was planned, just like the Gospel was planned from the foundation of the world.
Before the foundation of the world:
E. John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
The Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world - from all eternity - and Jesus wants all true believers to know and understand that everlasting love. See John 17:26.
F. Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
No, this is not Calvinism - but the Bible teaches that all those whom God foreknew would trust in Jesus Christ have been placed in Christ, accepted in the Beloved. He did not indiscriminately choose people to go to Heaven or Hell apart from any response on their part, BUT He has chosen that all who will receive Christ will be made like Christ (conformed to His image, holy and without blame before Him), will be given eternal life in Him, will have a future inheritance laid up for them in Heaven. Read the first three chapters of Ephesians and notice how many times believers are stated to be in Christ Jesus, in Him, in the Beloved.
1 Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
G. 1 Peter 1:18-20 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
This is similar to the earlier passage we read about Jesus being the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Here the Bible also states that God planned from before the foundation of the world that Jesus would be the perfect, spotless Lamb that would shed His precious blood for our sins. Precious indicates something is very valuable because it is rare. (The word precious is used seven times in the books of 1 and 2 Peter: 1 Peter 1:7, 19; 2:4, 6, 7; 2 Peter 1:1, 4.)
Ever since mankind’s sin in the Garden of Eden, the Lord has promised and prophesied of the coming Substitute, who would be God’s Lamb - in fact, who would be God Himself. God didn’t plan that man would be a savior or be able to save themselves, but that God Himself would be that Saviour, the Redeemer, the Lamb of God.
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Notice the progression in the following passage about the Passover Lamb:
Exodus 12:3-7 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Notice, the Israelites were to choose a young male lamb (in the prime of its life) that they would bring into their house for four days, to examine it, to make sure it was perfect. The lamb was to be without blemish or spot. By keeping the lamb in their own homes, they would then become endeared to it and it would become their lamb.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to present Himself publicly to the nation of Israel. The whole nation examined Him for the next four days. This included seven groups of people: the multitude, the Herodians, and the religious crowd, consisting of the Pharisees, the Sadducees (of whom were Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests), and the scribes and lawyers - and then Pilate and Herod themselves. Their conclusion was that there was no sin or fault in Jesus, despite the false accusations against Him. It is interesting to note that the religious leaders sought to find fault with Jesus during much of His public ministry, and this only increased during those final days. (See Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:2; and Luke 11:54.)
During Jesus' trials and on the cross, there are seven people who declared Jesus was innocent (ie. not a criminal) - fourteen statements made by seven people - notice, even Pilate himself stated this fact seven times:
1. Pilate - Matthew 27:24; Luke 23:4, 14, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6
2. Judas - Matthew 27:4
3. Pilate’s wife - Matthew 27:19
4. The Centurion - Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47
5. Those with the Centurion- Matthew 27:54
6. Herod - Luke 23:15
7. The penitent thief - Luke 23:41
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, fulfilled the Law perfectly. He had no sin nature inherited from Adam because of the virgin birth. He had never committed any sin - in thought, word, or deed. There was no fault found in Him whatsoever by any man that has ever lived. Many can bring accusations, but if there is nothing to back it up, it is a false claim, much like the false accusations brought against Jesus during His public trials by the religious crowd.
Matthew 26:59-60 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none.
Oliver B. Greene points out that the Jews brought seven accusations against the Lord Jesus Christ:
1) They accused Him of threatening to destroy their temple - Matthew 26:60-61.
2) They accused Him of being a malefactor - John 18:29-30.
3) They said He perverted the nation - Luke 23:2.
4) They said He opposed paying tribute to Caesar - Luke 23:2.
5) They accused Him of stirring up the people (against Rome) - Luke 23:5.
6) They accused Him of making Himself king - Luke 23:2.
7) They said He made Himself the Son of God - John 19:6-7.
Christ’s attitude towards sin during His earthly life:
1) His character - “In him is no sin” (1 John 3:5)
2) His conduct - “who did no sin” (1 Peter 2:22)
3) His cognizance - “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Devil, the religious crowd, even the political rulers of His day could find NO FAULT in the Lord Jesus Christ AT ALL. See also John 8:46; 14:30. Only the blood of a sinless Substitute could ever pay the redemption price needed to appease the wrath of a holy and just God. Jesus was that pure, spotless Lamb of God who shed His sinless blood upon the cross for us.
Psalms 49:6-8 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For an interesting and indepth look at the blood of Christ and how essential it is to our salvation, please read the section on The Blood Of Jesus Christ found in Revelation 1:5 of my upcoming Commentary on Revelation. (A work in progress.)
Seven times in Hebrews 9-10, it states that Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is once for all, one sacrifice forever:
A. Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
B. Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
C. Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
D. Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
E. Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
F. Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
G. Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
So often in the Word of God, when we see a list of sevenfold things - especially in regards to the Lord Jesus Christ - the seventh mention is many times the capstone, the greatest of all the things mentioned. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Perfect, complete salvation; perfect, complete forgiveness - because Jesus Christ is our perfect, sinless Passover Lamb!
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Jerry Bouey
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