Joseph Prince - Forgive the Past, Free the Future
The gospel of Jesus Christ is based on scripture alone, on Christ alone, on grace alone, on faith alone, and all for the glory of God, hallelujah. And we need to remember this, Church, because again, down through the years, man has added to the gospel. Man has added their penitence, their works, their good intent. You see, the flesh does not mind being religious. The flesh will add anything to get some glory. But that we always remember what the apostle Paul… if there’s anyone who understands the gospel of Jesus Christ, it was Paul who received directly from the Lord himself.
And this is what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2. He says, «By grace you have been saved through faith». Always remember that, Church. «By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast». Notice it is totally by grace through faith that you and I are saved. It is not our doing. It is not our works, lest any man should boast. Back in Paul’s day, Paul actually in chapter 1 of Galatians, when he wrote to the Galatians, he talked about those who depart from the grace of Christ into another gospel. Which means the grace of Christ is the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Romans chapter 1, he says therein, in the gospel that Paul preached, let’s see whether we stand. When we stand up to the gospel, we stand the test. In this gospel of Christ that Paul preached, therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Therein is the righteous, in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Now the sinfulness of man, of course, is exposed. But that’s not the thrust of the gospel. It’s the righteousness of God given to man as a gift, amen? That God might be just and the justifier of him. That God might be righteous and the righteousness of him who believes in Jesus, hallelujah. That’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you and I have received that, amen. Grace is always seen like, you know, if you believe in grace, if you preach grace, then you are someone who is compromising on holiness. You don’t believe in holiness.
Now friend, that’s not true, friend, because only grace can teach you to be holy. The Bible says in Titus chapter 2 that «the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, denying ungodliness and worldly lust». Now notice that? You know, people say, «Well, we need to teach that, to deny ungodliness and worldly lust». No, friend, listen carefully. It says, the grace of God. What’s the subject? The grace of God. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us. It’s the grace that teaches us. Grace is an amazing teacher.
If we’ll put people under grace, grace will teach them. Yes, we teach them grace, praise the Lord. We teach them grace, and grace will teach them from within. But grace is an amazing teacher, hallelujah. And when we put people under grace, the Bible says clearly in Romans 6:14: «Sin shall not have dominion over you, because you are not under law, but you are under grace,» hallelujah.
Now, friend, just take the Word of God. This is the Word of God. Nothing can be more clear and certain than this scripture verse. Praise the Lord. It says: «Sin shall not have dominion over you, because, for, you are not under law but under grace». You are not under who you are before God. You are under what God is to you. You are not under your efforts, your works, but you are under God’s finished work for you. Praise the Lord. When God gave the law, the children of Israel at the foot of the mountain, they actually said, before God gave the law in Exodus 19, they said, «All that the Lord has said, we will do it».
Now in the Hebrew, it’s a very strong, emphatic declaration. All that God says, we can do it. So man does not know himself. He does not know his flesh. He does not know his propensity to sin. He doesn’t even know that he’s a sinner and he has no strength of his own. So man relied on his own strength and told God, «Whatever you command us, we can do it».
Now all the while, God brought them out from Egypt based on his grace, his unmerited favor upon man, right? It wasn’t because they deserved it. God brought them out based on the covenant that he established with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It wasn’t their goodness. It wasn’t their holiness, that God brought them out. And yet, they murmured all the way out and every murmuring brought forth God’s fresh, divine intervention, God’s miracles like at the Red Sea, before God opened the Red Sea, they actually murmured and complained. And how many know that murmuring and complaining is sin? And yet, God opened the sea for them. And on the other side, they were okay for a while.
And then they murmured there was no water. And God, instead of judging them, God turned the bitter waters of Marah and made it sweet. And then they were okay for a while. And again, they murmured there was no food. And Bible says God says, «Behold, I will rain,» what, judgment? No! «I will rain manna, bread, from heaven». And none of them deserve it. None of them. Because you know why? Grace is all about God’s faithfulness, God’s holiness, God’s truth and counsel and wisdom. It’s all God. Praise the Lord. It’s nothing to do with man. But the more man relies on that and the more man sees that, it will transform man. Man is transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord, hallelujah.
And that’s the message we need to share with the people, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. But look at this, right at the foot of Mount Sinai. So all the while, God, in spite of their sin, and not because of sin. It doesn’t mean God condones sin. No way. But because they were not under the covenant of law just yet. They were under the covenant of grace that God established with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s totally a covenant of grace. And God is faithful to that covenant and showing grace to them. And it is the goodness of God that should have led them to repentance, praise the Lord. Because the Bible says the goodness of God leads you to repentance.
But at the foot of Mount Sinai, in Exodus 19, they boasted in themselves. And you Look at God’s tone. In Exodus 19, the moment they boasted, God actually told Moses, «Set bounds upon the mountain all around. Tell them, don’t come near». God never used that language, my friend. When God brought them out from Egypt, God was so near to them. I repeat, God was so near, so close to them, in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day. God went ahead of them and prepared the way for them.
When the enemies came behind them, the pillar of cloud went behind them to protect them and to cause darkness upon the Egyptians and light upon their way. And God opened up the way. God led them by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. God was so close to them. None of them died. Not a single one of them died. And friend, for sure they were not perfect. None of them died. But at the foot of Mount Sinai, man boasted in his own effort. And because of that, God changed his tone for the first time. Moses tell them, don’t come near.
Now this is the thing. If man wants to boast in his own effort, his own strength, his own goodness, because all the while, God did not bring them out based on their goodness, based on their strength, based on their holiness. God brought them out based on his goodness, his faithfulness. And now, at the foot of Mount Sinai, man has boasted. So God stepped back. God says, «Is this how you want me to deal with you? Based on your obedience, based on your law keeping»?
The very next chapter, Exodus 20, God gave them the Ten Commandments. You know what’s the result, friend? A golden calf. They made a golden calf. They never had a desire or temptation to build a golden calf in Egypt nor after the Red Sea. But at the foot of Mount Sinai, when they received the law, when they boasted in their law-keeping, in their obedience, in their strength, you know what happened? The very first commandment, «Thou shalt have no other gods before me». And what do you see? You see a golden calf and they were worshiping it. God was grieved because by the law, it’s not the knowledge of righteousness. The Bible says by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Paul says, «Moreover the law entered that the offense,» the sin, «might abound». But praise be to God, «Where sin abounds, grace super-abounds». And the Greek there says, «Where sin increase, grace super,» hyper, «super-abound». Praise the Lord, thank you, Lord Jesus. That’s why I’m more excited about God’s grace swelling up sin than to focus on sin all the time as if God’s grace is something weak, something that cannot overcome sin. But man needs to put his efforts together with God’s grace. Then it can be done. No way, friend. Sola gratia, grace alone. Sola fide, faith alone. Sola scriptura, scripture alone.
What I’m sharing is from the scriptures, friend. You can check it yourself. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. And soli Deo gloria, to God be all the glory, hallelujah. Who gets the glory, amen? If God does his part and then man does his part, you know who gets the glory? Half for God, half for man. Men always want to have some glory. No friend. God wants to have all the glory. We cannot handle one little glory. No way. In heaven, it won’t be, «Worthy is the Lamb and me,» no. It’s «Worthy is the Lamb» alone, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And if God wants to have all the glory, let him do all the work which he delights. He wants to do it.
So even right now, I am actually resting in the Lord. I’m letting him do the work. And I believe that right now, as I rest, the more I rest, the more I am not active trying to put in my intelligence or my knowledge or my effort. But the more I rest, the Lord will bring the appropriate word and the appropriate illustrations. And it is God who works in me both to will and to do his good pleasure. And the word there in the Greek is the present continuous tense. It is God working in me all the time. And that’s why the verse before that must be read in its context. «Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling». It is not saying, «Work for your salvation».
Again, we cannot negate the five solas of the Reformation, all right? It is not our works. You know, somehow people still believe that that verse is saying, «Work for your salvation». No, it says, «Work out». You cannot work out something that’s not inside. You work out what is in. Notice the verse after that says, it says: «Work out your own salvation because it is God who works in». You work out what God works in. God works in the love. And the more you rest, the more God works in. And when God works in, you’ll work it out. God works in me the love for my wife. Or God works in me the forgiveness for someone that I feel that, you know, doesn’t deserve my forgiveness and I’m not able to forgive the person. But God works it in me. The more I rest in the Lord, not try to forgive.
Have you tried trying to forgive before? The more you try to forgive, what happens? The more angry you are with the person. You pray that and in the next 5 minutes, you feel angry again. You’ve got to pray that again. You know why? Because we’re not doing it the Bible way. Scripture, sola scriptura, scripture alone. We’re not doing it the Bible way. The Bible way is forgive even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you. My friend, unless you understand how God has forgiven you, you cannot forgive. It’s like we need to know that we are loved before we love. Those who know they’re loved best are the ones who love best. Those who know they’re loved, love. Those who know they are forgiven.
And we have been weak in this, presenting how forgiven we are in Christ. It does not produce licentiousness, my friend, any more than the woman who wept at Jesus’s feet at the house of Simon the Pharisee, and Simon was criticizing that woman in his thoughts and Jesus defended the woman. And Jesus says, «Whoever is forgiven much will love him much». Maybe the revelation of how forgiven we are is not preached in its entirety. We have forgotten the major benefit, the first benefit found in Psalms 103. And God tells us not to forget all his benefits. And the first one says, «Who forgiveth all». How much? All your iniquities. Does that produce licentiousness? You go out, saying, «Yippee, I can now sin because God has forgiven me of all my…»
No, it doesn’t make you do that. If you are, then I gather you’re not born again. It makes you love God. And friend, unless we understand the first benefit, we cannot receive the next benefit: «who heals all your diseases». If this part, the first benefit, is faulty in our preaching, then the second cannot follow. And perhaps that’s the reason why we are seeing partial healings in the church for so long. There was a time in the Acts of the Apostles, the Bible says: «They were healed, every one. And great grace was upon the church. And with great power, they gave testimonies of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ». They bore witness of it. How? In healings, miracles, signs, and wonders. Perhaps we’re not seeing much of this because we have been faulty in our preaching of how forgiven we are. It is when you know you are forgiven.
Notice again what it says in Ephesians and Colossians. Paul teaches this. «Forgive, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you,» past tense. You know, in the Gospels, you remember when Jesus… sometimes Jesus would use words to bring people to the end of themselves. Just like the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and he says, «What must I do to inherit eternal life»? Jesus didn’t give him the evangelical answer. He didn’t give him the gospel. Why? Because he was boasting, «What must I do to inherit»? Jesus gave him some of the commandments from the ten. And you know what he said? «All this I have kept». Then Jesus says, «Sell all that you have and give to the poor».
By the way, he didn’t say that to everyone. Not to all his disciples, only to that rich young ruler. «And come and follow me». And that’s the first commandment, right? «You should have no other gods before him,» right? And yet, money was his god and he walked away, sorrowful. And friend, it is not that rich men cannot be saved. It was that he trusted in his riches than in God’s grace. So what we see here is that the Lord can give the law to bring man to the end of himself. And he is an expert in doing that. In everything that we do, the more we rest, and that is true holiness.
The holiness we want to produce must be the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, self-control. All of them is the fruit of the Spirit. And have you noticed where in the New Testament, the fruit of the Spirit appears? Would you say that this is progressive sanctification? Would you say that this is holiness, amen, the fruit of the Spirit? And holiness is not a face like you look like you are baptized in lemon juice, you know, grumpy and, you know, «I love Jesus, amen». How about notifying your face? You know, it’s not that kind of holiness. Notice the first word, «love».
What comes after love? Joy. Then peace. This holiness is not like what man makes it out to be. When man’s efforts are involved, it’s always morose, depressing, all right? It is not like that. It is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness. Self-control is a fruit. It’s not an effort thing. Self-control, which is in the fruit of the Spirit, is a fruit. And he contrasts that with works of the flesh. Works of the flesh. What’s works of the flesh?
Friend, what’s works of the flesh? And the fruit of the Spirit, works of the flesh. He goes on to list the entire list down there. All the works of the flesh. All those yucks, those yucky stuff, amen? But notice he calls it works of the flesh. He doesn’t call it fruit. Fruit is fruit of the Spirit, not works of the Spirit. Fruit of the Spirit, works of the flesh. Whenever you energize your flesh, even in trying to do good, the works of the flesh is produced. Israel said to God, «All that you command us, we will do it. We can do it».
And next thing they produce: the works of the flesh. When they are under law, sin becomes attractive. When you are under grace, holiness becomes attractive. When you are under law, sin has dominion over you. You cannot but sin. When they put themselves under law, the next thing you see is the golden calf. My friend, nothing can be more clear. And that’s why the Bible says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, hallelujah. Praise the name of Jesus. You see, grace is all about God working, God moving on man’s behalf. It’s God working.
Law is all about man working. Man’s efforts. Grace can also be said, supply. Spirit of grace is all about supply. The law is all about demand. Demand. Thou shall not. Thou shall not. Grace supplies. Grace supplies the holiness. Grace supplies the want-to’s and the desire. God is supplying everything. Praise the name of Jesus and you’re conscious of it. You are conscious of his favor. You are conscious of his love. When you have to go for an assignment or you go for an interview, you are supply conscious and not demand-minded like the law. Under the law, you are like, «I have to do this, I have to do that».
And you get stressed about it and you get depressed about it. And usually, the result is bad, you know? But if you are supply-oriented, you are rest. Because why? Why are you supply-oriented? God has finished all his work. In Hebrews 4, it tells you about this verse, that God has finished all his work through Jesus Christ. It is finished. When Jesus cried, «It is finished,» friend, it is finished.
Holiness, the first mention of this word, sanctified, holy, and all that. It’s the same Hebrew word. Just like the word sanctified, saints, right? Holiness in the New Testament is all the same word. It’s all the same word, just in different form, verbs or noun. Hagiasmos, hagiazo, verb, hagios, saints, all refer to people who are set apart. The idea of holiness is set apart. Set apart. Set apart. You set apart that which is special. You set aside that which is valuable.
When you set apart, usually, for example, you go to someone’s house and you look into their cabinet and you find that there’s special chinaware, there are golden utensils and all that. And you say, «Wow, where did you get this from»? And they tell you how expensive it is and all that kind of thing. But they don’t use it for you. It’s set apart. Perhaps maybe when a VIP comes to their house, they might use those implements that they have. But why is it set apart? Because it’s precious. It is set apart.
Now if a Greek person came in and saw all those things, he would probably use the same word. In Greek he will say, «Oh, you hagiazo those things». Holy. So the word «holy» is not something, you know, out of the ordinary, something spectacular. It means set apart. You know what’s the opposite of holiness? Commonness. That which is commonplace, profane, because it’s common. That’s the opposite of holiness.
When God tells his people to be holy, he’s telling us, number one, we learn from here the law of first mention, is to rest and let him do all the work. Because nothing of man, which is common, common means it’s from men, all right? Nothing that man can contribute to being able to perform well, worthy of the Lord, to the Glory of God, hallelujah. He cannot do it. «Not of works, lest any man should boast,» hallelujah. So the law of first mention tells us the first mention of the word «holy»: in Hebrew, kadosh; in Greek, hagios. And the word «holy,» even in Hebrew, means set apart, special. But what we learn from here is because God rested.