Does God Forgive Sins Before We Commit Them?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"Does God forgive sins before we commit them?" Sounds like a crazy question to ask. The very idea sounds like it comes from some nut. Can your State Police give you a "Not guilty" verdict before you even get a ticket for speeding? Is God handing out what amounts to advance permission for all kinds of sin ahead of time? (Like the famous Tetzel's "Indulgences" in the time of Luther?)

Of course, the answer is no.

But there may be solid truth that is getting denied here in this discussion. And thoughtful followers of Jesus do not want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. (a) We know Christ died for the world, not just for the good people in it (of whom there are none; John 3:16; 6:51). (b) We know that He died the second death that is due to "every man" (Heb. 2:9). (c) Thus He has paid the penalty that the law demands for every sin (Rom. 6:23). (d) We know the Father has adopted the human race in Christ (Eph. 1:3-6). (e) We know Christ has reversed the "condemnation" that "all men" receive from Adam with "justification unto life" for the same "all men" (Rom. 5:15-18; the New English Bible translates it as "a judicial verdict of acquittal" for "all men"). (f) This is why He can send His rain on both the just and the unjust and can treat "all men" as though they had never sinned when in fact they have (Matt. 5:45). (g) We know that grace is unmerited favor, and that God has "freely" justified "all" by that grace (Rom. 3:23, 24).

This is "the baby." Don't throw it out. It's the atonement.

The "bathwater" is the wild idea that this amounts to breaking down the law. Paul says, No: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (vs. 31). The realization that the Son of God has died your second death, has paid the full price for your soul's eternal salvation, has even gone to hell for you in "emptying Himself" (Phil. 2:5-8), captures your heart forever; and the new covenant promise is therein fulfilled because God's holy law is forever written in your heart. Death before disobedience is your forever choice!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 19, 2001.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
 
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