Category: Forgiveness

Cultivating Faith – Part 6

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Cultivating Faith:  A Man of Conviction (Pt 6)

Genesis 16.1-16

The descendants of Abraham would number as the stars are numbered in the heaven (Genesis 15).  God is gracious to reveal that Abraham’s future descendants would one day come out of Egypt after about 400 years of affliction with great possessions, great numbers, and a great God.  While God accomplished much for Abraham, what do we read of Abraham’s accomplishments?  We sum everything up in two words:  Abraham believed.  However, the years pile up until…

Conviction is undermined by compromise (Genesis 16.1-3).

The temptation for believers to compromise intensifies when…

        A Problem in Life Presents Itself (16.1)

Compromise of our convictions in the Lord begins when an insurmountable problem presents itself to us.  The temptation is to lift ourselves out of it or access that which cannot be humanly accessed.  We don’t pray or turn to God; instead, we take matters into our own hands.  This is a devastating decision.

The problem is obvious to Sarah at the outset of Genesis 16.  She didn’t have a son, but she had a maidservant.  Certainly Sarah’s plea for her husband to go into her maidservant would be persuasive in more ways than one.  Abraham cared for and certainly dearly loved his wife.  Surely his heart ached due to her barrenness.  Sarah had a solution to a problem that perplexed Abraham.  And one must conclude that what Sarah suggested would have been a great temptation for a man like Abraham, even though quite common in the day in which he lived.  So, the downward spiral continues…

        A Pragmatic Plan is Set in Motion (16.1-3)

Ten years passed since Abraham had come into the Land.  Sarah felt that it was her fault that God was withholding the promised heir from her.  But she would do well to remember that God made His promise with Abraham and not with her.  Sarah had carried a burden she was not meant to carry.  Instead of giving into his wife’s request, Abraham should have comforted and assured her.  He should have reminded her of the power of God to keep His promises.

We are so easily derailed by pragmatism when problems present themselves.  There will always be many options for us.  There will always be many voices or counselors to advise us.  We need discernment and wisdom from God in a sea of options and the cacophony of counselors.  It is important that we do not allow godly convictions to suffer under the corrosion of compromise.  If we fail to listen to the still, small voice of God, then we will quickly realize that…

Compromise always brings devastating consequences (16.4-16).

While this may seem obvious to an believer with a modicum of maturity, it is still something that we practically forget as we live life disconnected from the will of God.  Do this long enough, and…

        Compromise Breeds Contempt (16.4-6)

Abram went into Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid.  She conceived, and then the contempt ran in both directions when it came to Sarah and Hagar.  Hagar not only looks down upon Sarah, but she fears her.  As for Sarah, she deals harshly with Hagar.  So much so that Hagar flees for her home in Egypt.  Compromise always breeds contempt.

However, all hope is not lost.  It never is for the child of God.  Devastating consequences help us turn the corner.  We learn that…

        Compromise Deepens Conviction (16.7-16)

     The Angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Himself, found Hagar by a spring in the wilderness.  The common current of questioning from the Lord finds another place within the historical account of Genesis.  “Where have you come from, and where are you going?”  This is so reminiscent of what we see as God confronts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The Lord commands Hagar to return and submit to Sarah.  He also promises her that her descendants will multiply exceedingly.  They shall be innumerable!  The amazing announcement the Lord makes at this point in the narrative is so clearly aligned with the announcement of our Lord’s birth.  It is uncanny:  “Behold thou are with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction” (Genesis 16.11).  The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and declared, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1.23).

Compromise can deepen conviction once we repent and turn to a firm stand based upon firm dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  All of us fall short of the glory of God.  All of us have had times of compromise in our lives.  While we do not need to compromise in order to deepen godly convictions, the raw truth is that such a scenario has the potential to do just that.  The awful, bitter fruit of compromise will goad us back to the Savior and deepen our relationship with Him.  The only other option is to go adrift and rudderless in a sea of sin.

Our text is clear.  The Angel of the Lord names Hagar’s child through Abraham Ishmael, which means “God hears”.  The close parallel with our Lord’s birth announcement to Joseph points forward to His name Immanuel, which means “God with Us”.  It is one thing for God to hear us; it is quite another for Him to be with us.  Ishmael is born because God heard the affliction of Hagar; Immanuel is born because God heard the affliction of the world!

But Hagar named the Lord.  She called Him:  “Thou God seest me”  (Genesis 16.13).  The name of the well is named Beer Lahai Roi (Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me).  Hagar left Abraham and Sarah and fled for a familiar place.  However, something quite unexpected happened to her.  God came after her when Abraham or Sarah did not.  She could leave behind them, but she could not leave God behind.  He pursued her!  He sees.  She saw the God who sees her and learned that she, too, could have Abraham’s God as her own God.

The cultivation of a life of faith necessitates an uncompromising stand upon the truths of God’s Word.  One of those great truths concerns His revealed character.  One powerful meditation concerning His character is that God sees …He sees all.  God knows …He knows all.  When Hagar comes back to Abraham and Sarah, she will become an ensign of their compromise before the Lord.  She will be an instrument that deepens the conviction of God’s revelation and promise to Abraham and Sarah.  He sees and He knows.

Cultivating a life of faith motivates an uncompromising stand for at least three reasons:

    1. God’s omniscience convinces and grieves the compromising heart.  Don’t be among those who say, “How does God know” (Psalm 73.11)?  Don’t think that no one sees; God sees.  He searches the heart.  He knows you.  You cannot hide in darkness from Him (see Psalm 139.1, 12).  This may bring fear and grief, but it is an important step to hope and the cleansing desire to welcome the searching penetrating gaze of God in order to melt away anxiety (see Psalm 139.23-24).
    2. God’s omniscience reaches the thoughts and intents of the heart.  You cannot claim that God is not fair or that He does not judge with righteous judgment every man.  We are finite.  We only see the outward actions of people; God sees the inner man, the soul (see 1 Samuel 16.7).  All the ways of man may be pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit of a man (see Proverbs 16.2).  The only intent that rings true is that which is for the glory of God.  Beg God for the discernment and protection from deceit that is needed due to our easily corruptible hearts.
    3. God’s omniscience heals and comforts the broken heart.  There is hope for those of us who have compromised our convictions.  Don’t run from the harshness of real-time life as desperate and broken Hagar did.  When you are slandered and cannot defend yourself, remember that God sees.  All things are naked and open to the One who will judge righteously (Hebrews 4.13).  His eyes still run to and fro and throughout the whole earth in order to show Himself the strong and all-seeing God that He is.  He reveals Himself to those who humble themselves, submit, and return.

God sees.  This is both comforting and convicting.  When we are hurting, God sees the hurt at its deepest level.  God sees us strive for lives of holiness in the face of those who accuse us of being sanctimonious and legalistic.  God sees when we go to Him yet again, broken and ruined by our sin.  We know that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin!  Even at the most depressing times of our lives, we can put one foot in front of the other and find our way back to Calvary.  God sees.  I know He sees me.

Unsinning Sin

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Robert Browning wrote, “The proper process of unsinning sin is to begin well doing.”  Perhaps this is lyrically beautiful, but it is theologically rotten.  It is, however, the natural man’s response to guilt within.  We cannot handle guilt or internalize it very long.  Therefore we seek to erase the past by building over the decay of our sins without ever really doing anything about them.

Psalm 32 has been categorized as a penitential psalm of Israel’s King David.  It is penitential because of its content not format.  The telltale sign is found in a deep sense of guilt on the part of David.  So the enemy is not external but internal.  But the internal struggle finds evidence in outward results as well, namely sickness.  So as we relate with God through prayer and Bible intake, we must keep in mind that access to the throne of God hinges upon acknowledging our need to be forgiven.

Using the pauses built into the psalm by the word Selah, we see the testimony and progress of the power of forgiveness:

  1. “My [David’s] vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (4).
  2. “You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (5).
  3. “You shall surround me with songs of deliverance” (7).

Then finally, let all God’s people rejoice and shout for joy (11).

The Psalm divides neatly into two parts.  The first division is where we learn the process of forgiveness (verses 1-5).  Once we learn, we cannot contain ourselves.  We teach the process of forgiveness to others (verses 6-11).

The Process of Learning Forgiveness

It all begins with confession mentioned in verse 5:  “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”  Blessed is such a man.  His transgression is forgiven; his sin is covered (1).  The LORD does not impute iniquity upon this man.  He’s come clean as witnessed by the phrase, “In whose spirit there is no deceit” (2).  Our happiness rests in the fact that our sins are forgiven.  Only misery awaits those who cover or hide their sin.  We can speak in terms of salvation and the misery of Hell or in terms of sanctification and the misery of chastisement.

The Apostle Paul quotes these verses in Romans 4:  “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.’” (Romans 4:5–8)

Thus combining these passages, you have the fact that God will not impute sin to our account and the fact that He will impute righteousness apart from works.  You might want to reread that sentence!  Imagine if you could have complete control over this world and all its resources.  That’s pretty attractive …until you die.  What good will temporal possessions and power do at that point?  A man’s life certainly does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses!  There is a great reversal once we die and come face to face with our Creator.  Many lacking health, wealth, and prosperity will be carried by the angels into the presence of God because they trusted in Christ.  Those who had much of what the world offers are driven to distraction right up to their death bed.  Some will awake in torment (cf. Luke 16).

God will impute His righteousness.  Can anything be more of a blessing than that?  To be forgiven is wonderful; I’m not going to be punished!  But to have the Lord’s righteousness credited to my account – that tells me that I will have a great reward waiting for me in eternity and for all eternity.

The word transgression means willful and deliberate sin.  It is crossing the boundary God set.  The word sin means missing the mark.  Finally, the word iniquity means distortion or crookedness of character.  All three words for sin are used in verses 1-2 in order to indicate that a thorough cleansing of all sin takes place.  Hence, this man is blessed or happy.  But if we won’t come clean, we won’t be forgiven.  Is there deceit in your spirit?  We must see the tendency in each of us to harden ourselves to sin.  Only then will we learn how to have peace even after committing the greatest of transgressions.

Perhaps we can see from verses 3-5 that our struggles come from remaining silent about our sin.  We keep attempting to cover it, when only God can do this.  If we attempt to bury sin, then God’s hand will be heavy upon us (4a).  The physical ramifications are found in bones growing old and vitality turning to drought (4b).  Not all physical illness results from personal sin, but such illness should get us thinking!

All of us must come to verse 5 before we are able to release inner guilt:  “I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden.  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (5).  This is the key.  God covers our sin, iniquity, and transgression or we attempt to cover it.  Proverbs 28.13 states, “He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”  Once we personally learn this process, we are able to teach it to others.

The Process of Teaching Forgiveness

The operative words here are, “For this cause” in verse 6.  David is saying, “Look, I’ve gone down the road of trying to cover my sin.  Don’t go there.”  Instead, everyone who is godly prays to the LORD.  They too find the blessedness of forgiveness.  In a flood of great waters, there is only turbulence.  But God is our hiding place!  He keeps us from turbulent trouble and causes us to sing songs of deliverance (7).

The LORD teaches us to not be like a horse that needs a whip to move him or a mule that needs a bridle to pull him.  Both of these animals can be stubborn and have a need to be harnessed.  If you don’t harness them and make them go, they will not move (9).

The wicked are stubborn and hard-headed; the upright are teachable and tender.  Those who trust in the LORD are surrounded by His loyal, faithful love.  You can continue to resist the LORD or yield to Him.  Your life is shaped by whether or not you choose to cover your sin or fly to God so that He might cover it (10).  Once you make the right choice, gladness and rejoicing are yours (11)!

It is important to note that three elements work together in order to have a liberating sense of freedom from guilt:  1) acknowledgement of sin; 2) forsaking sin; and 3) choosing to obey the will of God.  This is important for individuals, families, and especially for our nation.  God cannot and will not bring healing without this taking place on all three levels.

Second, the confession stage has worked best for me verbally.  There is just something about putting a voice to guilt.  I usually try to make sure I’m in a very private place.  However, when I try to confess my sin with my inner voice, there is a sense in which I feel like I’m still hiding something.  Verbally expressing it to God helps me get the shock of it all out there.  Also, I think that accountability to a person that is close helps as well.  The sum is that when we confess our sins, “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9).

Finally, allow me to offer a word of caution.  It is a mistake to associate all sickness with personal sin.  There are other causes when it comes to illness.  Also specific sin does not result in specific illness, and healing will not necessarily come once you identify sin in your life.

Psalm 32 is wonderful because it offers liberation from guilt and sin.  And since that is true we rejoice in the LORD always.  Borrowing Browning’s phraseology:  “The proper process of unsinning sin is to begin confessing.”