SIN AND FORGIVENESS

    ‘… Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
    that will by no means clear the guilty….’–EXODUS xxiv. 7.
The former chapter tells us of the majesty of the divine revelation as
it was made to Moses on ‘the mount of God.’ Let us notice that,
whatever was the visible pomp of the external Theophany to the senses,
the true revelation lay in the proclamation of the ‘Name’; the
revelation to the conscience and the heart; and such a revelation had
never before fallen on mortal ears. It is remarkable that the very
system which was emphatically one of law and retribution should have
been thus heralded by a word which is perfectly ‘evangelical’ in its
whole tone. That fact should have prevented many errors as to the
relation of Judaism and Christianity. The very centre of the former was
‘God is love,’ ‘merciful and gracious,’ and if there follows the
difficult addition ‘visiting the iniquities,’ etc., the New Testament
adds its ‘Amen’ to that. True, the harmony of the two and the great
revelation of the _means_ of forgiveness lay far beyond the horizon of
Moses and his people, but none the less was it the message of Judaism
that ‘there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared.’ The
law spoke of retribution, justice, duty, and sin, but side by side with
the law was another institution, the sacrificial worship, which
proclaimed that God was full of love, and that the sinner was welcomed
to His side. And it is the root of many errors to transfer New
Testament language about the law to the whole Old Testament system.
But, passing away from this, I wish to look at two points in these
words.
I. The characteristics of human sins.
II. The divine treatment of them.
I. The characteristics of human sins.
Observe the threefold form of expression–iniquity and transgression
and sin.
It seems natural that in the divine proclamation of His own holy
character, the sinful nature of men should be characterised with all
the fervid energy of such words; for the accumulation even of synonyms
would serve a _moral_ purpose, expressive at once of the divine
displeasure against sin, and of the free full pardon for it in all its
possible forms. But the words are very far from all meaning the same
thing. They all designate the same actions, but from different points
of view, and with reference to different phases and qualities of sin.
Now these three expressions are inadequately represented by the English
translation.
‘Iniquity’ literally means ‘twisting,’ or ‘something twisted,’ and is
thus the opposite of ‘righteousness,’ or rather of what is ‘straight.’
It is thus like our own ‘right’ and ‘wrong,’ or like the Latin
‘in-iquity’ (by which it is happily enough rendered in our version). So
looking at this word and the thoughts which connect themselves with it,
we come to this:–
(1) All sin of every sort is deviation from a standard to which we
ought to be conformed.
Note the graphic force of the word as giving the straight line to which
our conduct ought to run parallel, and the contrast between it and the
wavering curves into which our lives meander, like the lines in a
child’s copy-book, or a rude attempt at drawing a circle at one sweep
of the pencil. Herbert speaks of
  ‘The crooked wandering ways in which we live.’
There is a path which is ‘right’ and one which is ‘wrong,’ whether we
believe so or not.
There are hedges and limitations for us all. This law extends to the
ordering of all things, whether great or small. If a line be absolutely
straight, and we are running another parallel to it, the smallest
possible wavering is fatal to our copy. And the smallest deflection, if
produced, will run out into an ever-widening distance from the straight
line.
There is nothing which it is more difficult to get into men’s belief
than the sinfulness of little sins; nothing more difficult to cure
ourselves of than the habit of considering quantity rather than quality
in moral questions. What a solemn thought it is, that of a great
absolute law of right rising serene above us, embracing everything! And
this is the first idea that is here in our text–a grave and deep one.
But the second of these expressions for sin literally means ‘apostasy,’
‘rebellion,’ not ‘transgression,’ and this word brings in a more solemn
thought yet, viz.:–
(2) Every sin is apostasy from or rebellion against God.
The former word dealt only with abstract thought of a ‘law,’ this with
a ‘Lawgiver.’
Our obligations are not merely to a law, but to Him who enacted it. So
it becomes plain that the very centre of all sin is the shaking off of
obedience to God. Living to ‘self’ is the inmost essence of every act
of evil, and may be as virulently active in the smallest trifle as in
the most awful crime.
How infinitely deeper and darker this makes sin to be!
When one thinks of our obligations and of our dependence, of God’s love
and care, what an ‘evil and a bitter thing’ every sin becomes!
Urge this terrible contrast of a loving Father and a disobedient child.
This idea brings out the ingratitude of all sin.
But the third word here used literally means ‘missing an aim,’ and so
we come to
(3) Every sin misses the goal at which we should aim. There may be a
double idea here–that of failing in the great purpose of our being,
which is already partially included in the first of these three
expressions, or that of missing the aim which we proposed to ourselves
in the act. All sin is a failure.
By it we fall short of the loftiest purpose. Whatever we gain we lose
more.
Every life which has sin in it is a ‘failure.’ You may be prosperous,
brilliant, successful, but you are ‘a failure.’
For consider what human life might be: full of God and full of joy.
Consider what the ‘fruits’ of sin are. ‘Apples of Sodom.’ How sin leads
to sorrow. This is an inevitable law. Sin fails to secure what it
sought for. All ‘wrong’ is a mistake, a blunder. ‘Thou fool!’
So this word suggests the futility of sin considered in its
consequences. ‘These be thy gods, O Israel!’ ‘The end of these things
is death.’
II. The divine treatment of sins.
‘Forgiving,’ and yet not suffering them to go unpunished.
(1) God _forgives_, and yet He does not leave sin unpunished, for He
will ‘by no means _clear_ the guilty.’
The one word refers to His love, His heart; the other to the
retributions which are inseparable from the very course of nature.
Forgiveness is the flow of God’s love to all, and the welcoming back to
His favour of all who come. Forgiveness likewise includes the escape
from the extreme and uttermost consequences of sin in this life and in
the next, the sense of God’s displeasure here, and the final separation
from Him, which is eternal death. Forgiveness is not inconsistent with
retribution. There must needs be retribution, from–
_(a)_ The very constitution of our nature.
Conscience, our spiritual nature, our habits all demand it.
_(b)_ The constitution of the world.
In it all things work under God, but only for ‘good’ to them who love
God. To all others, sooner or later, the Nemesis comes. ‘Ye shall eat
of the fruit of your doings.’
(2) _God_ forgives, and therefore He does not leave sin unpunished. It
is divine mercy that strikes. The end of His chastisement is to
separate us from our sins.
(3) Divine forgiveness and retributive justice both centre in the
revelation of the Cross.
To us this message comes. It was the hidden heart of the Mosaic system.
It was the revelation of Sinai. To Israel it was ‘proclaimed’ in
thunder and darkness, and the way of forgiveness and the harmony of
righteousness and mercy were veiled. To us it is proclaimed from
Calvary. There in full light the Lord passes before us and proclaims,
‘I am the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious.’ ‘Ye are come …
unto Jesus.’ ‘See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.’ ‘This is my
Beloved Son, hear Him!’

Bible in Basic English

Bible Verses About love – John 17:24
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Bible Verses About love – Deuteronomy 11:13
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Bible Scriptures – Corinthians 2 5:17
Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Favorites

Bible Verses About love – 1-Timothy 3:3
Not quickly moved to wrath or blows, but gentle; no fighter, no lover of money;

Bible Verses About love – Psalms 45:7
You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil: and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head, lifting you high over all other kings.

Bible Verses About second – Haggai 2:20
And the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,

Bible Verses About mesha – Daniel 3:26
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning and flaming fire: he made answer and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the fire.

Bible Verses About gentile – Romans 16:4
Who for my life put their necks in danger; to whom not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are in debt:

Bible Verses About sorrows – Psalms 142:2
I put all my sorrows before him; and made clear to him all my trouble.

Bible Verses About leopard – Habakkuk 1:8
And their horses are quicker than leopards and their horsemen more cruel than evening wolves; they come from far away, like an eagle in flight rushing on its food.

Bible Verses About zacharias – Luke 3:2
When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

Bible Verses About jethro – Exodus 18:10
And Jethro said, Praise be to the Lord, who has taken you out of the hand of Pharaoh and out of the hand of the Egyptians; freeing the people from the yoke of the Egyptians.

Bible Verses About thousand – Ezekiel 48:20
The size of the offering all together is to be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you are to make the holy offering a square, together with the property of the town.

Bible Verses About tester – Jeremiah 17:10
I the Lord am the searcher of the heart, the tester of the thoughts, so that I may give to every man the reward of his ways, in keeping with the fruit of his doings.

Bible Verses About nob – Psalms 122:7
May peace be inside your walls, and wealth in your noble houses.

Bible Verses About loose – Job 10:17
That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.

Bible Verses About tower – Psalms 89:40
All his walls are broken down; you have given his strong towers to destruction.

Bible Verses About rule – Luke 1:6
They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.

Bible Verses About adaiah – 1-Chronicles 9:12
And Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai, the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

Bible Verses About remaliah – 2-Kings 15:32
In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, became king of Judah.

Bible Verses About face – Exodus 10:15
For all the face of the earth was covered with them, so that the land was black; and every green plant and all the fruit of the trees which was untouched by the ice-storm they took for food: not one green thing, no plant or tree, was to be seen in all the land of Egypt.

Bible Verses About preachers – 2-Thessalonians 2:14
And in this purpose he gave you a part through the good news of which we were the preachers, even that you might have part in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible Verses About honour – Isaiah 8:13
But let the Lord of armies be holy to you, and go in fear of him, giving honour to him.

Bible Verses About iram – 2-Samuel 5:11
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house.

Bible Verses About mouth – 1-Kings 19:18
But I will keep safe seven thousand in Israel, all those whose knees have not been bent to Baal, and whose mouths have given him no kisses.

Bible Verses About peace – Isaiah 48:18
If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:

Bible Verses About salvation – Isaiah 63:1
Who is this who comes from Edom, with blood-red robes from Bozrah? he whose clothing is fair, stepping with pride in his great strength? I whose glory is in the right, strong for salvation.

Bible Verses About tongue – Romans 3:13
Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips:

Bible Verses About fear – Isaiah 8:9
Have knowledge, O peoples, and be in fear; give ear, all you far-off parts of the earth:

Bible Verses About husbands – Jeremiah 44:19
And the women said, When we were burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes in her image and give her our drink offerings without the knowledge of our husbands?

Bible Verses About hope – Hebrews 12:5
And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord's punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;

Bible Verses About birth – Genesis 38:28
And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.

Bible Verses About water – Leviticus 14:50
And put one of the birds to death in a vessel of earth over flowing water;

Bible Verses About worship – Deuteronomy 13:2
And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship;

Bible Verses About prayer – Job 21:15
What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him?

Bible Verses About joy – Luke 1:44
For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.

Bible Verses About wife – Genesis 4:17
And Cain had connection with his wife and she became with child and gave birth to Enoch: and he made a town, and gave the town the name of Enoch after his son.

Bible Verses About baptism – John 4:2
(Though, in fact, it was his disciples who gave baptism, not Jesus himself),

Bible Verses About heaven – 2-Kings 7:19
And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.

Bible Verses About faith – 1-Thessalonians 2:10
You are witnesses, with God, how holy and upright and free from all evil was our way of life among you who have faith;

Bible Verses About women – Isaiah 3:12
As for my people, their ruler is acting like a child, and those who have authority over them are women. O my people, your guides are the cause of your wandering, turning your footsteps out of the right way.

Bible Verses About anger – 2-Kings 14:10
It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted; let that glory be enough for you, and keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?

Bible Verses About strength – 1-Samuel 2:4
The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength.

Bible Verses About mothers – Mark 13:12
And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.

Bible Verses About wisdom – Revelation 7:12
So be it. Let blessing and glory and wisdom and praise and honour and power and strength be given to our God for ever and ever. So be it.

World English Bible

Bible Verses About health – Jeremiah 8:22
[Is there] no balm in Gilead; [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Bible Verses About birth – Hosea 9:11
[As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

Bible Verses About water – Samuel-1 26:16
This thing [is] not good that thou hast done. [As] the LORD liveth, ye [are] worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear [is], and the cruse of water that [was] at his bolster.

Bible Verses About fasting – Esther 4:3
And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Bible Verses About faith – Philippians 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Bible Verses About lying – Psalms 109:2
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

Bible Verses About hope – Romans 8:25
But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].

Bible Verses About life – Luke 14:26
If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Bible Verses About anger – Mark 3:5
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Bible Verses About joy – Job 29:13
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

Bible Verses About shave – Corinthians-1 11:5
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with [her] head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

Bible Verses About consecrate – Ezekiel 43:26
Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.

Bible Verses About hymn – Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Bible Verses About delivered – Samuel-2 22:20
He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Bible Verses About overtake – Thessalonians-1 5:4
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Bible Verses About half – Chronicles-1 6:61
And unto the sons of Kohath, [which were] left of the family of that tribe, [were cities given] out of the half tribe, [namely, out of] the half [tribe] of Manasseh, by lot, ten cities.

Bible Verses About skies – Psalms 77:17
The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

Bible Verses About adam – Corinthians-1 15:22
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Bible Verses About earring – Exodus 32:3
And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron.

Bible Verses About belly – Job 15:2
Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

King James Bible

Bible Scriptures About desire – Job 33:32
If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.

Bible Scriptures About lips – Proverbs 7:21
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

Bible Scriptures About egypt – Numbers 22:5
He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which [is] by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

Bible Scriptures About afraid – Mark 6:50
For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

Bible Scriptures About remember – Jeremiah 18:20
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them.

Bible Scriptures About inhabitants – Judges 1:19
And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Bible Scriptures About hid – Ezekiel 28:3
Behold, thou [art] wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

Bible Scriptures About mercy – Romans 12:8
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Bible Scriptures About stones – Jeremiah 43:9
Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which [is] at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

Bible Scriptures About aaron – Numbers 16:43
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

Bible Scriptures About words – Mark 8:38
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Bible Scriptures About sight – Acts 8:21
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Bible Scriptures About gate – Ezekiel 21:15
I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that [their] heart may faint, and [their] ruins be multiplied: ah! [it is] made bright, [it is] wrapped up for the slaughter.

Bible Scriptures About vain – Psalms 127:1
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.

Bible Scriptures About beginning – Samuel-2 21:10
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

Bible Scriptures About destroyed – Esther 3:9
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king's treasuries.

Bible Scriptures About second – Corinthians-1 12:28
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Bible Scriptures About ready – Job 15:24
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Bible Scriptures About speak – James 2:12
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Bible Scriptures About meat – Psalms 104:21
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

Bible Verses About crown – Exodus 37:2
And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

Bible Verses About nazareth – John 1:45
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Bible Verses About observe – Kings-2 21:8
Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

Bible Verses About nakedness – Ezekiel 23:18
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.

Bible Verses About candle – Jeremiah 25:10
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Bible Verses About backward – Isaiah 1:4
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Bible Verses About escape – Jeremiah 41:15
But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

Bible Verses About amen – Jeremiah 7:29
Cut off thine hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast [it] away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Bible Verses About captivity – Ezekiel 30:18
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

Bible Verses About cain – Genesis 4:24
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.