Moore to Ponder

Scripture Reference;

Psalm 103

 ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

 ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

 ³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

 ⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

 ⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 ⁶The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

 ⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

 ⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

 ⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

 ¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

 ¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

 ¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

 ¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

 ¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

 ¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

 ¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

 ¹⁸To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

 ¹⁹The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

 ²⁰Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

 ²¹Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

 ²²Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

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Here in the second part of this series I find much for which to be grateful.

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

let’s look at the first part of  that verse.

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

I have found it interesting that the Bible has a number of words for the bad things we think, say and do. It mentions sins, transgressions, abominations, trespasses, unrighteousness, wickedness, and some other things too. With that in mind, I decided to look up the word “iniquities”  in my Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and this is what I found:

 Orig: or oavown (2 Kings 7:9; Psalm 51:5 (7)) \i aw-vone’\i0\plain\f3\fs21\cf23 ; from 5753; perversity, i.e. (moral) evil:–fault, iniquity, mischeif, punishment (of iniquity), sin.

I  am really glad the Lord forgives all of our iniquities. I was recently reading the thoughts of one of my favorite theologians, C. H. Mackintosh . He wrote a wonderful piece titled “Forgiveness of sins: What is it?” In this writing he very effectively explores that subject and presents it under three heads: First, the ground on which God forgives sins; secondly, the extent to which He forgives sins; and, thirdly, the style which He forgives sins. Here is the link where you can read it in its entirety:  http://stempublishing.com/authors/mackintosh/Bk1/FORGIVNS.html As I look at Psalm 103:3 and consider the use of the word “all” I think I will quote C. H. Mackintosh from his section titled “The Extent of Divine Forgiveness”.

THE EXTENT OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS.

Very many are perplexed as to this. They do not see the fullness of the atonement. They do not grasp the emancipating fact of its application to all their sins. They do not enter into the full force of those lines, which, perhaps, they often sing:

“All thine iniquities who doth

Most graciously forgive.”

They seem to be under the impression that Christ only bore some of their sins, namely, their sins up to the time of their conversion. They are troubled as to the question of their daily sins, as if these were disposed of upon a different ground from their past sins. Thus are they, at times, much cast down and sorely beset. Nor could it be otherwise with them until they see that in the death of Christ, provision was made for the full forgiveness of ALL their sins. True it is that the child of God who commits sin has to go to his Father and confess that sin. But what does the apostle say, in reference to one so confessing his sins? “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Now, why does he say, faithful and just?” Why does he not say, “Gracious and merciful?” Because he speaks on the ground that the entire question of sin was gone into and settled by the death of Christ. who is now up in heaven as the righteous Advocate. On no other ground could God be faithful and just in connection with the forgiveness of sins. The sins of the believer have all been atoned for on the cross. If one had been left out, he should be eternally lost, inasmuch as it is impossible that a single sin, however trifling, can ever enter the precincts of the sanctuary of God And, further, let me add, if all the believer’s sins were not atoned for in the death of Christ, then neither by confession, nor by prayer, nor by fasting, nor by any other means, could they ever be forgiven. The death of Christ is the only ground on which God could, in faithfulness and justice, forgive sin; and we know He must either do it in faithfulness and justice, or not at all This is to His praise and our exceeding comfort.

But I can imagine my reader exclaiming “What! do you mean to say that my future sins were all atoned for?” To this I reply, that all our sins were future when Christ bore them on the cursed tree. The sins of all believers, for the last eighteen centuries, were future when Christ died for them. Hence, if the idea of future sins presents a difficulty in reference to what we may commit, if left here, it presents just as great a difficulty in reference to what we have committed. But, in truth, all this perplexity about future sins arises very much from the habit of looking at the cross from our own point of view, instead of God’s — looking at it from earth instead of from heaven. Scripture never speaks of future sins. Past, present, and future are only human and earthly. All is an eternal now with God.

All our sins were before the eye of infinite Justice, at the cross, and all were laid on the head of Jesus the Sin-bearer who, by His death, laid the eternal foundation of forgiveness of sins, in order that the believer, at any moment of his life, at any point in his history, at any stage of his career, from the time at which the hallowed tidings of the gospel fall upon the ear of faith until the moment in which he steps into the glory, may be able to say, with clearness and decision, without reserve, misgiving, or hesitation, “Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” To say this is but faith’s response to God’s own declaration, when He says, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” “Jehovah hath made to meet on him the iniquities of us all.”

Let us, by way of illustration, take the case of the thief on the cross. When he, as a convicted sinner, cast the eye of faith upon that blessed One who hung beside him, was he not, then and there rendered fit. to enter the paradise of God? Was he not furnished with a divine title to pass from the cross of a malefactor into the presence of God? Unquestionably. Did he need anything more to be done for him, in him, or with him, in order to fit him for heaven? By no means. Well, then, suppose that, instead of passing into heaven, he had been permitted to come down from the cross. Suppose the nails had been extracted and he allowed to go at liberty. He would have had sin in his nature, and having sin in his nature, he would have been liable to commit sin, in thought, word, and deed. Now, could he ever lose his title, his fitness, his meetness? Surely not. His title was divine and everlasting. All his sins were borne by Jesus. That which had fitted him to enter heaven at the first, had fitted him once and for ever, so that if he had remained on earth for fifty years he would, at any moment, have been equally fit to enter heaven.

True it is, if the pardoned sinner commits sin, his communion is interrupted, and there must be the hearty confession of that sin ere his communion can be restored. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” But this is, obviously, a different point altogether. My communion may be interrupted, but my title can never be forfeited. All was accomplished on the cross. Every trace of sin and guilt was atoned for by that peerless, priceless sacrifice. By that sacrifice, the believer is transferred from a position of guilt and condemnation into a position of justification and perfect favour. He is translated from a condition in which he had not a single trace of righteousness, into a condition in which he has not a single trace of guilt, nor ever can have. He stands in grace, he is under grace, he breathes the very atmosphere of grace, and he never can be otherwise, according to God’s view. If he commits sin — and who does not? — there must be confession. And what then? Forgiveness and cleansing, on the ground of the faithfulness and justice of God which have had their divine answer in the cross. All is founded on the cross. The faithfulness and justice of God — the advocacy of Christ — our confession–our full forgiveness — our perfect cleansing — the restoration of our communion — all rest upon the solid basis of the precious blood of Christ.

My reader will bear in mind that we are, at present, occupied with the one point, namely, the extent of divine forgiveness. There are other points of great importance, which might be looked at in connection, such as the believer’s oneness with Christ. his adoption into the family of God, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, all of which, necessarily, imply the full forgiveness of sins. But we must confine ourselves to our immediate theme, and having endeavoured to set forth the ground and the extent, we shall close with a few words on

THE STYLE OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS.

I know that there are Christians that disagree on the subject of “extent”, and I have read the thoughts of many. I have said myself that I am not a theologian…just a wife and mother…I see in part like all other believers, but I do agree with all He has written in the writing you can read if you use that link. To lose something you must have possession of it first, so at this point in my walk I must say that salvation is something that cannot ever be lost once one has obtained it.  You really should consider that…after all, every believer is the Lord’s purchased possession:

³⁷All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

 ³⁸For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

 ³⁹And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John 6:37-39 KJV

 ⁹I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

 ¹⁰And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

 ¹¹And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

 ¹²While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

 ¹³And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

 ¹⁴I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 ¹⁵I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

 ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 ¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

 ¹⁸As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

 ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

 ²⁰Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

 ²¹That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:9-21 KJV

Now for the part about healing…

who healeth all thy diseases;

Healing is a subject that I know little about. I have read a lot about it, but still there are so many different ways the Lord heals. All I can say is that with or without medicine all healing is from the Lord. The Lord loves all of his children, and the presence of a disease does not mean that He is not working all things together for the good of His children.

I hope what I have written today encourages your heart.

Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord?  Please click here:https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/category/about-salvation-very-important-words/ and make sure.

Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here:www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!