Acts 08:14-25 God’s Second Law of Pardon

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Text: Acts 8:14-25

Introduction

1. The Scriptures reveal different instructions on how to obtain forgiveness

a. To alien sinners outside of Christ

1) Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

2) And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ (Acts 22:16)

b. To erring Christians guilty of sin

1) Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. (Acts 8:22)

2) 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)

2. The difference has been described by some as God’s Two Laws Of Pardon

a. For the alien sinner, there is God’s first law of pardon

1) Hear the gospel

2) Believe that Jesus is the Christ, who died for our sins

3) Repent of sins

4) Confess faith in Christ

5) Be baptized for the remission of sins

b. For the erring Christian, there is God’s second law of pardon

1) Repent of sins

2) Pray to God

3) Confess sins to God

3. As we evangelize, we often spend much time explaining the first law. As Christians seeking to maintain our relationship with God, we should be equally concerned with the second law. So let’s take a closer look at God’s second law of pardon

Body

I. WHAT CHRISTIANS MUST DO

A. WE MUST REPENT OF SINS

1. Note that repentance is required in both laws of pardon

2. What does it mean to repent? Literally, it means “a change of mind”

a. “signifies to change one’s mind or purpose” – Vine

b. a change of mind involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God

3. Thus it involves making a decision to stop sinning

a. Just as the alien sinner is called to do so in becoming a Christian

b. So the erring Christian must do to return to the Lord

4. Repentance is produced by “godly sorrow”

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)

a. A sorrow for having sinned against God

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. (Psalms 51:4)

b. As opposed to worldly sorrow for getting caught or being exposed

5. Repentance is also prompted by God’s goodness

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

a. Awareness of God’s grace and kindness should lead us to repent

b. Frequent meditation on the Word of God will help in this regard

6. Repentance will be manifested by a remarkable change

For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7:11)

a. Such as diligence and zeal to do right

b. Such as indignation for our sins and a desire to make right

7. So the first step for erring Christians is to repent of their sins!

B. WE MUST PRAY

1. So Peter told Simon when he sinned after having believed and was baptized

Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. (Acts 8:22)

2. Compare this to God’s first law of pardon

a. Baptism is an act of faith, in which we make an appeal

There is also an antitype which now saves us baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21)

b. Prayer is also an act of faith, as we appeal for forgiveness

c. Yet alien sinners are commanded to repent and be baptized

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

d. While erring Christians are commanded to repent and pray

3. The difference is understandable

a. Before baptism, one is not a child of God

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:3-5)

b. After baptism, prayer is a privilege for those who are God’s children

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:6-7)

4. Praying is effective for the Christian because of our two intercessors

a. Jesus, who understands our feelings

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18)

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25)

b. The Holy Spirit, who communicates our feelings

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

5. As we pray, we must do so with humility

a. Compare the difference between the Pharisee and the publican

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other menextortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

b. God favors the humble and contrite in spirit

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Psalms 34:18)

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

6. Having repented, the erring Christian humbly needs to pray!

C. WE MUST CONFESS

1. So John wrote to Christians, to experience God’s forgiveness

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)

2. Compare this to God’s first law of pardon

a. Where confession is commanded, but not confession of sins

b. Instead, confession is made concerning Jesus Christ

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts 8:37)

3. Understanding the word “confess”

a. Comes from the Greek word homologeo

b. “lit., to speak the same thing; to agree with, admit” – Vine

c. In regards to sin, it means to openly and honestly admit sin without hiding it or offering excuses for it

And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. (Daniel 9:4-6)

4. Confession of sins should be made

a. Continuously – for John literally wrote “If we keep confessing our sins…”

b. For both known and unknown sins

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. (Psalms 19:12)

c. Always to God, sometimes to each other

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16)

5. So as the erring Christian prays, confession of sins should be made!

[Simple is God’s second law of pardon: to repent and pray, confessing our sins! To encourage us to be diligent in taking advantage of this wonderful grace, consider now…]

II. WHAT GOD WILL DO

A. GOD WILL BE FAITHFUL

1. As John promised in encouraging us to confess our sins

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)

2. This means He will be true to His promise

3. What promise? The promise found in the prophecy of the New Covenant!

a. Found in Jeremiah, repeated in Hebrews

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD. FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” In that He says, “A NEW COVENANT,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:7-13)

b. Thus we have the assurance of God’s response!

B. GOD WILL BE JUST

1. As John promised in encouraging us to confess our sins

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)

2. This means He will be righteous in forgiving our sins

3. How can this be? By virtue of the cleansing blood of Jesus!

a. A cleansing alluded to earlier

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

b. So God can be both just and justifier of those who have faith in Christ

being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)

c. Thus we have the basis for God’s response!

C. GOD WILL FORGIVE AND CLEANSE

1. He will “forgive us our sins”

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)

a. The word ‘forgive’ describes the act of canceling a debt and the restoration of the debtor

b. No longer will the guilt of our sins be held against us!

2. He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” – 1 John 1:9

a. “The word ‘cleanse’ refers to making the forgiven sinner holy so that he is able to have fellowship with God”

b. The word “all” is reassuring; no sin is beyond God’s ability to forgive the penitent Christian who confesses their sin!

3. Thus we have blessedness of God’s response!

Conclusion

1. With God’s second law of pardon, the Christian who repents, prays, and confesses will

a. Experience the continual cleansing of the blood of Christ!

b. Enjoy the blessedness of knowing your sins are forgiven!

2. Why would any Christian hesitate to obey God’s second law of pardon…?

a. You can have the same joy of salvation as when you were baptized into Christ!

b. For you rise from prayer as cleansed from sin as when you arose from the watery grave!

If you want to have the same joy, the same assurance of salvation, as that new babe in Christ who comes forth to a new life, then take advantage of “God’s Second Law Of Pardon”…!

Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)