"How Blessed"

Paul quotes David the great sinner in Rom. 4:7-8. "Blessed are those who lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." In the Greek, Paul uses a double negative for the words "will not". That means God simply will never, ever take a sin back into account once it is forgiven. It is like God saying, "There is no point in trying to persuade Me to bring back up a matter I have forgiven! There is no way in heaven I will do that! Just forget it!!"

What is the point? We have a sinner, who failed his God miserably and recognized what they did was sin. They appealed to God for His cleansing while repenting. We have a Lord who will simply not hold that sin against this sinner. No wonder David and Paul can call such a person "blessed"!

Not everyone is "blessed" in this way. There are only a certain group of people that possess this kind of blessing. God is a holy God, full of mercy and grace. Only those who are in a relationship with Him, that takes direction from Him and allows Him to shape their character, they are the "blessed." Those who God will never, never ever take their sins into account are those who humbly, with a whole heart, live in a covenant relationship with Him and have embraced His life.

Those in that covenant life and union with Him, their sins are not held against them. This is a relationship of grace between a covenant keeping God and people accepting that covenant. God knows our moral weaknesses and our capacity to sin. That's why He calls ungodly sinners to His side! It is sinners He makes His companions!! But they aren't sinners that actively despise Him and wander into sin intentionally. The convicted sinners have a contrite and repentant heart that seek to glorify His name and bless Him.

What do we learn? To have a true and loving relationship with someone, do we think we can treat them with a bad attitude and defy them when we feel like it? If that is our mindset, we know nothing of friendship and love. Friendship has built into it an attitude and purpose toward the other that leads to a certain kind of behavior toward that other. Just read Jam. 4:4 and see the opposite of what I am saying.

Too many in Christ Jesus live as if the Lord is punishing them continually for their past failures, sometimes major failures. God says, "I don't do that!" Maybe we aren't living in the relationship if that's our mindset? When we come to God with a repentant, humble heart God forgives and does not record that sin against us. The death of Jesus is not to make it easier for us to sin or make evil to appear less evil. It is to show us the depth of the relationship we have and enjoy that relationship. It is knowing that God will never, ever take a past sin into account which should produce within us a desire to move into His path, letting Him mold us and make us because His covenant is so wonderful and we want to stay away from sin. It breeds love! No wonder that person is BLESSED!