The Freedom of Forgiveness

Psalm 32:1-11 July 12, 2020 preached by Pastor Doug Cooper Download Time of Reflection Quotations “Forgiveness transcends finite human reason. The mere thought that one’s entire sin account can be utterly eradicated is staggering. Yet it is quite clear that the forgiveness of sins strikes at the very core of human need and experience. It […]

Psalm 32:1-11

July 12, 2020

preached by Pastor Doug Cooper

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“Forgiveness transcends finite human reason. The mere thought that one’s entire sin account can be utterly eradicated is staggering. Yet it is quite clear that the forgiveness of sins strikes at the very core of human need and experience. It speaks of guilt gone, remorse removed, depression disappearing and emptiness of life eradicated. What power there is in forgiveness! And it all comes abundantly from the gracious hand of God.”

~ Lewis Drummond (1926-2020), American minister and professor

“The Christian life is simply a process of having your natural self changed into a Christ self, and that this process goes on very far inside. One’s most private wishes, one’s point of view, are the things that have to be changed.”

“A Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin again after each stumble – because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.”

~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), British author, lay theologian, and Christian apologist.

“The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, when they stumble and fall, when they screw up, they run to God and not from him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death.”

~ Matt Chandler (1974-present), contemporary pastor and author

“When saints sin, they know they are not sinning against law but against love.”

~ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh minister and medical doctor

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”

~ Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) Anglican author and theologian

“Our sins have been put away. To use the language of the Scriptures…they are completely removed, put behind God’s back, blotted out, remembered no more, and hurled into the depths of the sea.”

~ Jerry Bridges (1929-2016), American author, speaker and staff member of The Navigators

Psalm 32:1-11 (NIV)

1  Blessed is the one

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

2  Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord does not count against them

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3  When I kept silent,

my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4   For day and night

your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

as in the heat of summer.

5  Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave

the guilt of my sin.

6  Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

will not reach them.

7  You are my hiding place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8   I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

9   Do not be like the horse or the mule,

which have no understanding

but must be controlled by bit and bridle

or they will not come to you.

10 Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!