by
Lane Rogers
A Brief review of Praying for Forgiveness of Sins, by Lane Rogers
For more on this same subject follow this link__ (Start in Verse 11)
Lane
Romans 4:6-8
The Above is a quote from the NASV so let's look at the NIV also:
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7"Blessed
are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are
covered. |
The NIV has the better interpretation.
Paul uses the convincing illustration of David (Psalm 32:1-2; compare Psalm 51 and Proverbs 28:13) to show the church at Rome that there was nothing that David could do to restore chastity to Bathsheba or life to Uriah. Into that hopeless case God, by His sovereign grace, came and canceled sin, counting him righteous. David was undeserving of pardon; he did not merit forgiveness. Forgiveness was freely bestowed and his sin was "covered" forever canceled. David rejoiced, not only that sin was not imputed, but also in the positive imputation of righteousness and the pronouncement of acquittal. The larger context of this section is "justification by faith" and how members of the Lord's body are "counted righteous" or "justified by faith" as Abraham and David. Abraham received justification by faith which was "Abraham's Promise" and that promise now belongs to those in Christ (the entire 3rd chapter of Galatians). Members of the body of Christ receive Abraham's promise (justification by faith) at baptism (Galatians 3:26-27). Here is the point that should be made; if we are justified by faith at baptism (counted righteous) God no longer writes down our sin.
If we look at the grammar in this section the first thing we ought look at is "are forgiven" in v.7 and what is it to be be forgiven.
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ἀφίημι (aphiēmi 863) 1. leave [verb] -eth, -ing, left to send forth or away, to let go from one's self, then, to let go from one's further notice, care, etc., to leave, let alone. 2. forgive -eth, -en, -ing, -gave to send away, dismiss, set free. With Accusative of person, to express the discharge or acquittal of a defendant, whether the appellant is nonsuited by verdict or otherwise, especially to remit the punishment, where the guilty person is dealt with as if he were innocent. 3. let -eth to send forth or away, to let go from one's self, to let pass, permit, suffer. 4. suffer -ed, -est, -eth, -ing to send forth or away, let go from one's self, dismiss; to let go, that is let pass, permit, to suffer. 5. remit -ed to send away, dismiss, set free; of sins, to remit the penalty of, that is to say to pardon, forgive. [Here, by proclaiming and promising forgiveness, as influenced by the Spirit, not as influencing the Spirit, for ministerial acts are not creative, but declarative of the preceding acts of the Holy Ghost. With the gift of the Holy Ghost to any disciple, comes the knowledge of “sin, righteousness, and judgment”, and therefore a preeminent fitness for the discernment of sin and repentance in others, and an authority to declare the fulfilment of God's promises, or the contrary.]
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The sins "were forgiven" and this is an ariost tense verb.
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ἀφίημι ἀφ|έ|θη|σαν verb 3d plural aorist passive indicative - Aorist: action in the past (were forgiven) - Passive: the subject receives the action (that is us) -Indicative mood__an absolute statement of fact___ |
Now we know that the "sins" were put away at some point in the past and it is these people who have been counted righteous and have had their sins forgiven, whose sins are not written down, or God does not keep up with or make an account of. The Word "logizomai."
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λογίζομαι (logizomai, 3049); impf. ἐλογιζόμην; 1 aor. ἐλογισάμην; a depon. verb with 1 aor. pass. ἐλογίσθην and 1 fut. pass. λογισθήσομαι; in bibl. Grk. also the pres. is used passively (in prof. auth. the pres. ptcp. is once used so, in Hdt. 3, 95; [cf. Veitch s. v.; W. 259 (243); B. 52 (46)]); (λόγος); Sept. for חָשַׁב; [a favorite word with the apostle Paul, being used (exclusive of quotations) some 27 times in his Epp., and only four times in the rest of the Ν. Τ.]; 1. (rationes conferre) to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; hence a. to take into account, to make account of: τί τινι, Ro. iv. 3, [4]; metaph. to pass to one's account, to impute, [Α. V. reckon]: τί, 1 Co. xiii. 5; τινί τι, 2 Tim. iv. 16 [A. V. lay to one's charge]; τινὶ δικαιοσύνην, ἁμαρτίαν, Ro. iv. 6, [8 (yet here L mrg. Τ Tr WH txt. read οὗ)]; τὰ παραπτώματα, 2 Co. v. 19; in imitation of the Hebr. לְ נֶחֱשַׁב, λογίζεταί τι (or τις) εἴς τι (equiv. to εὶς τὸ or ὥστε εἶναί τι), a thing is reckoned as or to be something, i. e. as availing for or equivalent to something, as having the like force and weight, (cf. Fritzsche on Rom. vol. i. p. 137: [cf. W. § 29, 3 Note a.; 228 (214); B. § 131, 7 Rem.]): Ro. ii. 26; ix. 8; εἰς οὐδέν, Acts xix. 27; Is. xl. 17; Dan. [(Theodot. ὡς·)] iv. 32; Sap. iii. 17; ix. 6; ἡ πίστις εἰς δικαιοσύνην, Ro. iv. 3, 5, 9-11, 22 sq. 24; Gal. iii. 6; Jas. ii. 23; Gen. xv. 6; Ps. cv. (cvi.) 31; 1 Macc. ii. 52. b. i. q. to number among, reckon with: τινὰ μετά τινων, Mk. xv. 28 [yet G Τ WH om. Tr br. the vs.] and Lk. xxii. 37, after Is. liii. 12, where Sept. ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις. c. to reckon or account, and treat accordingly: τινὰ ὥς τι, Ro. viii. 36 fr. Ps. xliii. (xliv.) 23; cf. B. 151 (132); [W. 602 (560)]; [Ro. vi. 11 foll. by acc. w. inf., but G L om. Tr br. the inf.; cf. W. 321 (302)]. 2. (in animo rationes conferre) to reckon inwardly, count up or weigh the reasons, to deliberate, [A. V. reason]: πρὸς ἑαντούς, one addressing himself to another, Mk. xi. 31 R G (πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, with myself, in my mind, Plat. apol. p. 21 d.). 3. by reckoning up all the reasons to gather or infer; i.e. a. to consider, take account, weigh, meditate on: τί, a thing, with a view to obtaining it, Phil. iv. 8; foll. by ὅτι, Heb. xi. 19; [Jn. xi. 50 (Rec. διαλογ.)]; τοῦτο foll. by ὅτι, 2 Co. x. 11. b. to suppose, deem, judge: absol. 1 Co. xiii. 11; ὡς λογίζομαι, Pet. v. 12; τί, anything relative to the promotion of the gospel, 2 Co. iii. 5; τὶ εἴς τινα (as respects one) ὑπὲρ (τοῦτο) ὅ etc. to think better of one than agrees with what etc. [“account of one above that which” etc.], 2 Co. xii. 6; foll. by ὅτι, Ro. viii. 18; τοῦτο foll. by ὅτι, Ro. ii. 3; 2 Co. x. 7; foll. by an inf. belonging to the subject, Co. xi. 5; foll. by an acc. with inf., Ro. iii. 28; xiv. 14; Phil. iii. 13 [cf. W. 321 (302)]; τινὰ ὥς τινα, to hold [A. V. “count”] one as, 2 Co. x. 2 [cf. W. 602 (560)]; with a preparatory οὕτως preceding, 1 Co. iv. 1. c. to determine, purpose, decide, [cf. American “calculate”], foll. by an inf. (Eur. Or. 555): 2 Co. x. 2. [Comp.: ἀνα-, δια-, παρα-, συλ-λογίζομαι.]* |
If God does not write our sins down, why do members of the church consistently ask God for forgiveness of sins that were never written down? The answer is our Roman Catholic heritage is stronger than our study habits. We accept the ways of our forefathers just as they accepted the ways of their forefathers without ever checking the validity of what we were taught.
Some proof texts those of the Catholic persuasion often use to make their point I will briefly mention.
James 5:16__we are told to confess our sins one to another and pray for one another. God already knows about our sin and it was covered with the blood of Christ. The confessing is to our family in Christ.
Matthew 6:12___forgive us our "debts" as we have forgiven our debtors. This is a reference to the law and the "Trespass" offering and not a commandment to pray for the forgiveness of sins.
1st John 1:9___"If we confess our sins" is a reference to those Gnostic groups who taught that nothing a person does with their physical body is sinful. (They were claiming they had no sin, v. 8). Not a commandment to pray for forgiveness of sins.
I personally know of no place in the Bible where we are told (i.e. commanded) to pray for forgiveness of sins. It seems to me that asking God to forgive us for something He never wrote down is a lack of faith.
For more on this same subject see this link__ (Start in Verse 11)
It almost never fails that someone accuses me of teaching that the above means we can just do anything sinful we want to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Someone at Rome made the same baseless accusations against the Apostle Paul regarding this subject and I will just let his answer suffice. The questions they were asking are obvious and may be determined by Paul's answer in chapter 6. The accusation___"If a person is counted righteous or justified by faith does that mean we can just sin and keep sinning"? Paul's answer and mine:
Romans 6:15ff
Lane Rogers