When man shuns God’s word, he passes up his only hope for knowing what sin is and how it affects him both now and for all eternity.
No man is to be respected above another person in a form of unrighteous judgment. However, does not infer nondiscrimination in every matter.
In a very basic sense, the word hope means desire, yet the true meaning is not nearly as weak as the world presents. The word hope in scripture is associated with the word expectation (Proverbs 10:28; Proverbs 11:7). Hope is not simply some type of wishful thinking; it is something that someone trusts in dearly (Jeremiah 17:7). This type of hope is not something visible to the naked eye of man (Romans 8:24), but it is believed and held firm by faith (Hebrews 11:1). All men live their lives based upon hope; however, not all hope is the same. One man’s hope might be that there is no life after death. Another might place his hope solely upon the payment for sin provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.
A sure sign of rebellion involves the rejection of God’s word. Throughout scripture, the Lord associates rebellion with a willful decision on the part of an individual or people group to refuse to hear. In Psalm 107:11 the Bible says, “Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High.” In Nehemiah 9:26 the scripture declares, “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs.” Those who make their necks stiff in rebellion will not incline their ears in order to receive instruction (Jeremiah 17:23). They may accept the counsel of others but refuse the Lord’s counsel (Isaiah 30:1).
Rebellion thrives upon the self-will of any individual or group of individuals. It parallels stubbornness, hard-heartedness, and a stiff neck. The first use of rebellion in the Bible indicates that it is a refusal to submit to the will or authority of another (Genesis 14:4; see also 2 Kings 18:7). Sometimes, rebellion may be the refusal to go at the command of another (Deuteronomy 1:26), while at other times, it is the refusal to stay (Deuteronomy 1:43). The point is that rebellion is a refusal on the part of a person or group to submit and yield to the rule of another. It involves a conscious decision to cease from following, and though there may be times when resistance needs to be made against the world, “God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD” (Joshua 22:29).
In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord expressed His great love for the nation of Israel. In the midst of this declaration, the Lord provided reasons why He placed His love upon this particular nation. In Deuteronomy 1:27, the people began to murmur and their murmurings bred lies. They stated that the Lord brought them out of Egypt to destroy them because of His great hatred for them. Their statements were completely false. This is true in most circumstances when people turn to murmuring. The problem gets exaggerated and the truth corrupted. Fabricating lies helps the one murmuring to feel better about voicing the complaint. Interestingly, the truth is usually not worth murmuring about.
The believer’s relationship with God is twofold consisting of a positional relationship and one of practice. Positionally, the believer enjoys Christ’s imputed righteousness (Romans 4:6-8). In this position, the believer has been forgiven of all trespasses (past, present, and future) (Colossians 2:13). John confirmed this truth as he wrote to believers saying that their sins were already forgiven (1 John 2:12). Because of God's complete forgiveness, sins can never and will never affect a man’s position in Christ. However, man must also consider his practice (his daily walk before the Lord).The sins that cannot harm a man’s position in Christ can adversely hinder his fellowship with the Lord. Though all our sins are forgiven, we still should daily confess our sins to the Lord in order to keep our fellowship right (1 John 1:9).
The Christian life is a life of continual blessings, though it also contains many experiences in life's difficulties. The believer is blessed by God’s provisions in the past and offered hope through God’s promised future provisions. Psalm 68:19 proclaims that the Lord “daily loadeth us with benefits.” These benefits include both spiritual and physical blessings of salvation, answered prayers, good health, and family. However, David specifically described the blessedness of a man imputed righteousness apart from his works. Our passage records his words as he proclaimed, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.” Though forgiven of past, present, and future sin, man's capacity for sinning remains unabated within his natural body. Every faithful Bible student knows never to minimize forgiveness of one's sin as one of the greatest blessings of all!
The subject of forgiveness would fill volumes yet never exhaust the depths of its meaning. The study for the next two weeks will provide the reader with a deeper understanding and greater appreciation concerning the necessity for faith in the Christian life. We embark on this study by offering a basic meaning for the word forgiveness. Three scripture passages reveal the association of forgiveness to covering (Psalm 32:1; Psalm 85:2; Romans 4:7). The first passage further reveals that the covering of sin is directly connected to forgiving of transgression. The second two verses connect the covering of sin to the forgiving of iniquity. With these truths in mind, the act of forgiving someone involves the act of cancelling the penalty for wrongdoing. As the wrongdoing is forgiven, whether it be sin, transgression, or iniquity, the offense is covered as it is forgiven. This covering does not suggest placing a covering over the wrongdoing to hide it, but the act of taking care of its penalty.
As Moses recounted Israel’s time in the wilderness, he reminded God’s people of the reasons for their failure to enter into the land of promise. He rehearsed how it was the people who approached him requesting that spies first be sent into the land to explore it. If the people had trusted God, surveying the land would have been unnecessary. Yet, the people doubted God’s provisions so Moses sent in the spies. When they returned, they expressed stories of giants and walled cities that made the people fear to carry out God’s will. The spies’ report '"discouraged” (Deuteronomy 1:28) the hearts of the people. This loss of courage yielded an unbelief in the people (Deuteronomy 1:32), greatly displeasing the Lord (Hebrews 3:17-19).
