"God For
Christ's Sake Hath Forgiven You"
Ephesians 4:32
The text which heads
this page contains both the glorious revelation of the gospel and the
believer's motivating, governing principle and rule of life.
HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS
REVEALED IN AND PROCLAIMED BY THE GOSPEL - "God for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you." The forgiveness of sin is not something that is conditioned
upon the will, work, or worth of the sinner. It is something accomplished by
the will of God, the work of Christ, and the worth of his precious blood. The
gospel of God does not proclaim the possibility of forgiveness, but the
effectual accomplishment of forgiveness (Isa. 40:1-2). Every sinner who
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ receives from God the forgiveness of all sin
for Christ's sake. This forgiveness was accomplished when Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. He obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb.
HERE IS THE BELIEVER'S
RULE OF LIFE. Paul has been telling us how to live in this world for the glory
of God, how to walk in love, kindness and tenderness of heart with men and
women who are weak, sinful and often offensive, freely forgiving one another.
What will he offer as a motive? Will he take us back under the yoke of the Mosaic
law? No. Pharisees who pretend to honor the law are
the meanest, most unkind, unforgiving people in the world. Those people who
crucified the Lord of glory did so in the name of the Mosaic law!
What rule of life will Paul give to effectually motivate God's saints to be
"kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another?" Here it is - "Even
as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." The gospel is not only our
source of life, it is also every believer's rule of
life. What a blessed rule it is (I John
Don Fortner