In Romans 4: 1-8, especially focusing on verses 7 and 8, (“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” – NKJV), one reads that the ungodly who come to believe in God (v.5) that their “faith is accounted (imputed or credited – Life Application Study Bible, KJV, Tyndale Press) for righteousness [or just, meet, right, justification (or to be right in the sight of God – Google definition) The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible by James Strong, L.L.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers). Therefore, our belief in Jesus opens the door for forgiveness or for our sins to be let alone, to be let be, and to be let go (see “forgiven” in Strong’s) by Jesus. It is important to confess our sins or to even admit, really admit, to Jesus and others that we have sinned in the first place, i.e., past, present, or future sins (we all have!). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 KJV).
So what is the lesson in the blessing?
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven” Romans 4:7 NKJV.
What lesson or lessons do we learn from turning away from our “lawless deeds” to the belief in Jesus and His teachings, and thus His forgiveness of our sins.
Some people seek to learn better in life from their empty and lonely life, and thus turn away from the pain of their past ungodly life. There is no true joy and peace found in a life of sin. For myself, even though I went to church, but sinned in my private life, there was a point when I told Jesus I had enough of my past ungodly life, and just wanted the good of Him which I had heard about while occasionally attending church then. I was forgiven when I came to Jesus and confessed my sins of years of fornication, etc. But immediately, Jesus took me through years of tests before I began to grasp His lessons He was teaching me during a 20 year or more period of celibacy. I am still being tested or am learning of Him, with what I can do with what life I have left, about the many manifestations of Jesus’ teachings I need for me. I still suffer, however, His yoke is easy in that I thank Jesus for His love for me and for Him to even take the time to teach me as I read His word everyday and hear His word from various sermons in church. His teachings are a chance for me to become wiser through my storms, more peaceful through my storms, to pursue my dreams through my storms, to deal with haters through my storms, to be creative in my business through my storms, and to live a life pleasing to Him through my storms. He never leaves me or forsakes me (Hebrews 13:5) through all of my storms.
And for this I can never thank Him enough for my lessons, and where He is leading and guiding me even though I don’t know all of the details of the future lessons I will learn from Him along the way. I know God is love, and that He is good, and that’s enough for me to know today and every new day, and which definitely includes what lessons He has for me to learn daily in my morning devotional reading of His word, prayer, and praying in tongues. Amen!
God Bless You All!
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.