The sanctuary reveals God's truth, His plan.

Can God forgive sin as a matter of fact?

*******

'The Covenants and the Sanctuaries -- Light  from the Throne -- (Continued) -- WWN '

Continued...

'Basic Principles From God's Viewpoint --

Can God forgive sin as a matter of fact? The answer is - NO!

Consider the terms of the 40-Day Covenant.

Moses was told - which he in turn conveyed to the people - "Behold, I send an Angel before thee .... Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him." (Ex. 23:20-21)

To forgive sin per se would reflect upon the very character of God, and place in jeopardy the entire universe.

A whole series of questions arise.

Is God just? Does He mean what He says? Is He infallible? Are there alternatives? Can pluralism exist in the universe? Or is there just one way of righteousness?

These questions are as new as today, and as old as eternity, yet basic to the question -

Can God forgive sin?

Does God forgive sin? The answer i s YES.

When Israel sinned and broke the 40-Day Covenant, Moses told the people that he would "go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin."

In speaking with the Lord, Moses made confession for Israel "This people have sinned a great sin." Then he said - "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their, sin -;" (Ex. 32:31-32)

An extended pleading followed on the part of Moses, climaxing in the request - "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." (Ex. 33:18)

To this God consented, and placing Moses "in a clift of the rock" and covering him with His hand, He passed by proclaiming "the name of the Lord." In this self-revelation, God declared Himself to be "merciful and gracious ... keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." (Ex. 33:22; 34:5-7)

How then do we reconcile the Name of the Lord which cannot pardon transgression, and the revelation of that God as merciful, "forgiving ... transgression and sin"?

Paul answers this question by stating that "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," God can remain "just" and yet show forgiving mercy to the one believing "in Jesus." (Rom. 3:24-26)

This reconciling revelation of God's character is portrayed in the sanctuary services of types and shadows.

Another basic principle from God's viewpoint can be recognized by asking the question -

"Can I provide for the forgiveness of my sins?"

The answer is an emphatic - NO!

To do so would be my demise for time and eternity.

This is what the Judgment of the Great White Throne is all about.

Those who stand to be judged before that Throne must provide for their own transgressions. These can be satisfied only in the second death. (Rev. 20:12-15)

(((Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. ))))

God is just.

There is a wrath of God against sin.

The Third Angel's Message reveals how His wrath will be manifest against those who persist in worshiping the epitome of iniquity. (Rev. 14: 9-10)

(((Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb))))

 There is only one escape. Having been justified by the blood of Christ, "we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Rom. 5:9)

Again the sanctuary reveals the way.

*******

I've heard people time and again say stuff like- Why did God allow sin in the first place?  Why can't God just poof sin out of existence? They have many more of those kinds of questions and for the most part, they really don't want answers, they just want to find fault with God so they can disbelieve Him. They don't want others to believe either because it makes them some how not quite as smart as they should be. Believers are foolish, or so they think because if they were truly smart and not foolish they wouldn't believe in fantasy and fiction.

Those sorts of questions are valid though, just as the answers are valid.  It's not wrong to ask the questions, not as long as you want to hear an answer and are willing to consider the answers given. But to ask the questions without wanting answers is wrong.

The answers… why did God allow sin in the first place?

God did not make slaves.  God made creatures of free will.

Why can't God just poof sin out of existence?

Because God is a God of love and to poof sin out of existence would mean poofing sinners out of existence as well.  And without an opportunity for all of existence to witness the justice of God's love and the wrongness of sin- which is the transgression of God's law- then God is a mere loveless dictator, and nothing more.  God is so much more, God is love itself and to allow sin to run its course, giving ALL an opportunity choose God or Sin, is a revelation of that love, far from being loveless. The ETERNAL life those who love God will be given is something so incredible we can't begin to comprehend it fully.  So to say God is loveless because of sin- something OTHERS chose and choose to commit, not something forced on them, is outrageously wrong.

The sanctuary reveals God's truth, His plan.

Psa_77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

All by HIS amazing LOVE and GRACE!