Week 9 - Thursday

The Forgiven Are Blessed

just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” (Romans 4:6-8)

By using Abraham as an example of salvation by faith, Paul attacked the very heart of traditional Jewish teaching. The Jews considered Abraham to be their most important forefather and the most righteous man who ever lived. Paul doesn't stop there though. The next example he uses is David, their greatest king. The Jews considered David to be a righteous man also. The prophet Samuel, speaking about King David, said that God had sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and appointed him as ruler over His people (1 Sam. 13:14). What a great commendation. David must have been a man who obeyed God. However just like Abraham, there were times when he failed miserably. David even went as far as to commit adultery with another man's wife. He then arranged to have her husband, who was in his army, sent to the front lines so he would be killed in battle (2 Sam. 11:1-17). David later confessed these sins to God and asked for forgiveness. The Bible doesn't try to hide the sins of great heroes of faith like Abraham and David. It show us both their obedience and their disobedience. One reason it does this is so that we will know, not even the best of men are saved by their works but only because of God's goodness and mercy. In verses 7 and 8 Paul quotes these words of David, taken from Psalm 32, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” These words make it is easy to see that David knew his salvation was not dependent on his works but on God's mercy.

In God's eyes there is very little difference between people. As far as He is concerned, none of them are righteous because all of them have sinned. As a result of their sin, all people are are in danger of being condemned by God. On the day of judgment only two kinds of people will stand before God. Those whose sins have been forgiven and those whose sins have not. Those whose sins have been forgiven will go to heaven to spend eternity with God. Those whose sins have not, will go to hell and be separated from God forever. That's why a person's greatest need is to have their sins forgiven. Do you know if your sins are forgiven? If not, the way that you can receive God's forgiveness is to confess your sins and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Those who comes to God this way, receive His forgiveness and are blessed. The word blessed means happy, fortunate or well off. That's a good description of someone whose sins are forgiven. What else could a person possibly have that's better than knowing they are right with God. Their sins are forgiven and no matter what happens to them, they are going to go to heaven. Why live with the fear, that if the Bible is true, you will one day be condemned by God? If you have never turned from your sins to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, now is the time to do it. Don't wait another day? How do you know how long you have to live? Come to Jesus now. If you have already received Jesus Christ you are blessed. God will not take your sins into account. He has forgiven all of them because they have been covered by Christ's death on the cross. Praise Him and thank Him for that today.

Readings for today: Psalm 51:1-4; Psalm 130:3-4; Psalm 32:1-6; Rom. 8:1; Acts 10:43; Psalm 32:11