4. Honesty, Pardon, and Peace Psalm 32:5-6

Text:  “For He (the Lord) saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  So then (a conclusion) it is not of him that willeth (the human will/decisions), nor of him that runneth (physical effort), but of God that showeth mercy.”

                                                                                                            Romans 9:15-16.

Good morning, God-pardoned Christian!  If the good Lord God Jehovah, through the full Atonement Sacrifice of His dear Son, Christ Jesus, had not chosen to save you and I - we would never ever have been saved.  Fact.  The natural man receives not the things of God, for they are Spiritually discerned.  This is God’s Word on the matter.  He has mercy on whoever He sees fit to have mercy, and He shows compassion to whom He sees fit to show His compassion - if He chooses not to show that mercy and compassion on any given soul, that soul is utterly LOST. 

Praise God He has shown mercy and compassion on you and on me, Christian friend - according to His Sovereign grace alone, we are forgiven, saved, and Eternally secure in Christ Jesus.  Hallelujah!  ‘Salvation is of the Lord!’  (Jonah 2:9)  God alone is God!  He does exactly whatever He desires to do with all that He has freely Created, and all that He has permitted to be born of woman.  Who can tell God that He is wrong, or correct Him, or challenge His Sovereign choice?  No one!  God alone is God.

“But our God is in the Heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.”  (Psalm 115:3)

“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He (God) might gather together in One (Christ Jesus) all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven (saved souls who have died?), and which are on earth (saved souls still alive?); even in Him: In Whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His Own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.  In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your Salvation; in Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”  (Ephesians 1:10-13)

The Lord God Almighty saves only the souls that He Himself has chosen to save.

Honesty:  Those whom the Lord chooses to save, are granted His gift of genuine faith to believe/trust in His Word; to trust in the Living Word, Christ Jesus, and in His Sacrifice for our sin at Calvary’s Cross.  When, in time, we do so, the Lord grants us honesty, self-honesty, to see and admit our sin against Him and repent (turn away from sin and turn to Christ).

Pardon:  Full pardon from all the penalty of all our sins is the Lord God’s free gift to all ’His people’ whom He has granted faith to believe/trust in the Living Sacrifice of His Own dear Son, Jesus Christ.  All our sins - past, present, and future sins - have been placed upon the sinless Christ Jesus, and He has suffered the penalty for all these sins upon that cruel Cross over two thousand years ago at a place called Calvary.

Peace:  Christ’s Holy Sacrifice, having been fully accepted by God as a redemption price for our sins, results in true peace between the Lord God and those saved from sin, and allows us true fellowship with our Holy Lord God.  What an Eternal Friend we have in Jesus!  Glory to His Holy and Merciful Name!

“Therefore being justified (just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 5:1)

“At the Cross, at the Cross, where I first saw the Light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…It was there, by faith, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.”  (Isaac Watts 1674-1748, Chorus by Ralph E. Hudson 1843-1901)

Verse 5.  “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.  With men, a free confession makes way for a condemnation; but with God, the more a sinner bemoans his offence the more he extenuates the anger of his Judge.  Sin cannot but call for justice, as it is an offence against God; yet, when once ‘tis a wound to the soul, it moveth Him to mercy and clemency.”  (Isaac Craven’s Sermon at Paul’s Cross, 1630)

“This sin seems very probably to have been his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah.”  (William Gurnall 1617-1679)

Psalm 51: records David’s honest Psalm of confession to God; repentance from his gross sins; his seeking God’s forgiveness and cleansing; and assurance that his cry of repentance has been heard and answered by God.  Praise God it was so!  It shows a clear pattern for you and I that we too might repent from sins committed AFTER we were chosen for Salvation; and receive full restoration to fellowship with the Lord God. 

Progressive sanctification is a cleansing from sin that must be sought daily by all those who have been called by God the Holy Spirit to receive Salvation. (1 John 1:6-10)

 Thought:  “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye…And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one Body; and be ye thankful.” (Colossians 3:12-15)