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Originally Posted by Praxeas
BTW what I wanted to know was not so much how we receive forgiveness, but what exactly is receiving forgiveness? Is it merely a realization that we are forgiven?
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The heart acknowledges depravity and returns to God through faith in the finished work of Christ. 'Receiving' forgiveness is 'experiencing' it first hand by faith. Man personally experiences the forgiveness of the Cross when he 1) hears the Good News of the Cross and 2) comes to place his trust in the once for all remission of the Cross.
Man 'receives' the forgiveness of the Cross when his heart is 'purified by faith' and his 'conscience of sin' purged. This miraculous 'healing' of the heart takes place when he calls on the name of the Lord in faith recognizing the finished work of the Cross took place on his behalf. Having a good
(cleansed/purged/sprinkled/purified) conscience toward God by faith he is then baptized.
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If you say "experience" what does that mean? how can one be forgiven and not experience it?
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If a man is wronged by another, that man can forgive the other in his own heart whether his transgressor hears of his forgiveness or not. Consider the son who sins against his father and moves far away. In his dying moments the father makes it known to all that he has forgiven his estranged son. Years later the son comes to acknowledge his sin against his father and returns home only to find that his father has passed. He is devastated and his conscience of sin is tearing his soul apart.
Is the son forgiven? YES
Has he experienced this forgiveness? NOT YET
Devastated and yearning for a healing of his heart he finally learns that his father forgave him many years earlier and had never ceased loving him.
Upon hearing this good news the son chooses to place his trust in its reality. This results in a healing in his soul and a cleansing of his conscience of sin. The son moves forward attempting to live a life which would have been pleasing to his loving father.
How long had the son been forgiven? Ever since his father forgave him prior to dying. Though forgiven for many years, had the son experienced his father's forgiveness? NO, he did not experience the forgiveness of his father until he learned of it and came to rest in the reality of the historic forgiveness.
The Gospel of his father's reconciliation brought healing.
Again, please explain to me how a man can be justified and unforgiven at the same time.
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