In our study of Mark we jumped off into the doctrine of forgiveness from Mark 2:9; where we saw the scribes taking issue with Jesus' forgiving of the paralyzed man's sins.

When we stopped last time we saw that in the Greek of Col 1:14; the primary object is redemption and the secondary object is forgiveness and that there is no concessive connotation between redemption and forgiveness.

We see from that the salvation ministry of Jesus Christ on the cross that provided redemption must be distinguished from the doctrine of forgiveness because redemption was the decision of Jesus Christ in eternity past as eternal God and fulfilled on the cross as true humanity.

Forgiveness is however is the result of a decision of mankind in time under two categories related to human sins. Category one is the forgiveness of all pre-salvation sins at the moment of faith alone in Christ alone.

Category two is the forgiveness of all post salvation sins results from the fulfillment of the protasis of 1John 1:9; "If (third class) we acknowledge our sins."

Forgiveness depends on redemption and is the result of redemption but there is no forgiveness of sins in redemption and atonement, only the judgment of all sins.

God the Father judged all human sins of history at the cross with the result that sins are forgiven under two conditions faith alone in Christ alone and naming and citing any known sin when necessary.

All of the unbeliever's sins were judged at the Cross, but never forgiven because of rejection of Christ as Savior, John 3:18,36;

If you reject Christ as Savior, you have rejected the love of God that is expressed in the grace of God, but the love of God has not rejected you.

God's love never ever rejects anyone but if God is to remain holy God's love must permit the God's justice to transfer unbelievers into the lake of fire because of their unbelief.

At the last judgment the sins of the unbeliever are never mentioned only their failure to believe in Christ and their human good works are cited. The judicial case of the Cross established precedence for the function of forgiveness of sins. It produced precedence based on unlimited atonement.

God the Father, the chief justice of the supreme court of heaven imputed all the sins of mankind to the impeccable human nature of Christ and judged every one of them. The courtroom of the cross was strictly a matter of judgment. All the decisions of God the Father related to the Cross were decisions related to judgment.

Eph 5:2; "Begin walking in the sphere of virtue love just as Christ also loved you and delivered Himself over as a substitute for us, an offering (food offering) and sacrifice (burnt offering) to God resulting in the aroma of fragrance (propitiation)."

This indicates that God the Father is the judge and our Lord Jesus Chris is the recipient of the judgment.

1John 2:2; "but He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the entire world." God the Father was satisfied with His judgment of our Lord.

1John 4:10; "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. "The precedence for forgiveness is unlimited atonement. All sins had to be judged on the Cross and the righteousness of God the Father had to be satisfied with that judgment.

This is based on the precedence of the doctrine of propitiation that establishes that God the Father as the judge had to be satisfied with the judgment. Only the judgment of the cross satisfies the Father. God the Father also rules in every case of our naming and citing our known sins.

The issue is not sin it is justice and righteousness. Forgiveness is based on a decision you make to agree with the justice and righteousness of God to believe in Christ and on the decisions you make after salvation to agree with the justice and righteousness of God and acknowledge any known sins to God the Father.

This all works because the impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ accepted the imputation and judgment of all sins on the Cross as the means of propitiation. 1John 2:2;

In every case of post salvation sinning, the believer follows a lust pattern of the old sin nature and uses free volition to choose to sin. Consequently, under grace, the believer must use free volition to recover the spiritual life.

Lust and sin precede grace, but love and grace overcomes lust and sin whenever the sin is simply acknowledged.

The principle of legal pardon and forgiveness is no different from the principle of personal pardon and forgiveness.

It is the same as when someone asks for your forgiveness, and in honor you forgive them, then in integrity your loyalty to doctrine demands that you forget whatever was done against you, and then never recall the sin in your mind or penalize the individual for it.

We see from this that forgiveness is exclusively a grace function because arrogance has no capacity to forgive or forget.

Joseph provides us with a good example of forgiveness in his response to his brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt Gen 50:17-21;

Joseph had no intention of ever seeking revenge. He was a mature believer who was functioning under grace and doctrinal orientation (faith) and had developed spiritual self esteem and a personal sense of destiny (hope). This enabled him to extend integrity love to his brothers . 1Cor 13:13;

The believer who has a personal sense of destiny never reacts in bitterness or vindictiveness; and he never seeks revenge. The believer with a personal sense of destiny lives their life unto the Lord. Phil 1:21; Psa 31:14-15; because they recognize that the Lord has their back Rom 8:28;