Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
June 18, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark's "shift" from his focus upon the divine "message" to a different focus upon the human "response" is a deliberate step forward in presenting "the way to reconciliation with God".
Introduction: In our last study, we did not finish going over our notes. For that reason, we are going to look again into Mark's record of Jesus' declaration to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
- I. A Primary Consideration.
- A. No one's sins are ever "forgiven" without repentance.
- B. The current heretical teaching that "forgiveness" can be declared to those who are without repentance is a deliberate distortion of the truth by our true adversaries (Ephesians 6:12) for the specific purpose of derailing "reconciliation" between God and men.
- 1. The ultimate objective of "Truth" from God is "Life" flowing from God to men.
- 2. The primary methodology of that objective is "reconciliation" between God and men so that men can experience the "Joy of Life" that comes from being in the presence of God (Psalm 16:11).
- a. "Reconciliation" requires a change in men, not in God.
- b. That "change" consists, most fundamentally, in men yielding up both "agenda" and "method" commitments to embrace God as the One Who sets the agendas and declares the methods.
- C. When men are taught to "believe" that "reconciliation" can be achieved by only one side of a relationship, "reconciliation" never happens.
- II. Mark's Particular "Point" At This Point.
- A. He deliberately substitutes "Faith" for "Repentance".
- 1. He records that it was "when" Jesus "saw" the faith of the "paralytic" and the "four" that He declared to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
- a. In all of the earlier texts of Mark, "forgiveness" was solidly attached to "repentance".
- b. Now it is deliberately tied to "faith".
- 2. There was, however, a hint of this in Mark's introduction of Jesus' "message".
- a. In that message, the "big ticket item" was the "at-handedness" of the Kingdom of God.
- 1) This was a clear indication that the issue for men was the rule of God over men and the implication that it set before men.
- 2) When the "Kingdom of God" is "enforced", every man who resists/rejects the rule will be ejected from the Kingdom.
- b. Under that "big ticket item" was the automatic question for every man: How do I get to participate in the Kingdom and keep from being ejected from it?
- c. The rest of Jesus' "message" answered that question.
- 1) "Repent" (a repetition of John's "message").
- 2) "Believe" the Gospel (the "Gospel" being two specific things: the presence of the Kingdom; and a way to be received into it).
- 3. Thus, "faith" is declared to be, not a "substitute" for "repentance", but the "method" of it.
- B. He records specific words from Jesus to the paralytic (not excluding the "four", but putting the focus where it actually is in the attention of those present).
- 1. He calls him "Child", a word for one who has been "begotten" and is viewed in terms of a certain level of immaturity.
- a. This means that the paralytic has already been shifted from his identity as a child of the devil (John 8:39 and 44) to a child of God.
- b. It also means that the paralytic is seen by Jesus as having some very real "immaturity" issues that seem to swirl around questions about "forgiveness" (Jesus would only make this the point because it was the point).
- 2. He does not say to him, "Your sins are forgiven".
- a. That translation leads to the idea that the man's "sins of a lifetime" are "forgiven".
- b. A better translation would take the details of Jesus' verb ("forgiven") into account.
- 1) Those details are tense, mood, and voice.
- a) The tense is "present" and indicates something that is currently going on.
- b) The mood is "indicative" and indicates that "reality" is being presented.
- c) The voice is "passive" and indicates that the noun is being acted upon by another (the "sins" are being forgiven by God).
- 2) A better translation would be, "Child, your sins are being forgiven".
- a) This points to an inalterable fact: "sins" in the lives of even the repentant are "on-going" and require a "continuing" provision.
- b) 1 John 1:7 actually says this in stark terms.
- 3. He says this to him because he is a "child" and because it will not only address his immature grasp of "repentance", "forgiveness", and "faith" in the light of reality, but it will also address the need of the crowd (2:10).
- C. Mark also drills down on the issue of "forgiveness" so that we need to be sure we are on the same page as he is.
- 1. The verb translated "are being forgiven" has already been used in non-forgiveness settings.
- 2. These other uses will help us to understand what it means to have sins either "forgiven" or "being forgiven".
- a. The first such is 1:18 where we are told the first two disciples called by Jesus "forsook" their nets to follow Him into His "agenda" for them as "fishers of men".
- b. The second is 1:20 where the other two disciples "left" their father, the boat, and the hired servants to follow Him into His "agenda" for them as "menders of the tool by which men are 'caught' by those 'fishing' for them".
- c. The third is 1:31 where the fever "left" the mother-in-law when Jesus took her hand and lifted her up.
- d. And the fourth is 1:34 where Jesus "suffered" not the demons to speak when He cast them out of their captives.
- 3. The "common thread" in all four of these "non-forgiveness" settings is that in each case there was something that was allowed to be dominant over agenda/method issues and that dominion was broken.
- a. If we learn from these texts, we can see that "forgiveness of sins" is a "breaking" of the dominion that "sins" exercise in the lives of "sinners".
- b. If we attach Paul's doctrine of whence comes the "power" of sin (1 Corinthians 15:56) we can then understand that the real domination of men by their sins is God's "Justice".
- c. And if we understand that, we can then see how "Grace" brings "forgiveness" into the picture as a bondage-breaker in two ways at least.
- 1) First, it allows God to not deal with us as Justice demands so that whatever "sin" wanted to destroy by the power of God is not destroyed.
- 2) Second, it builds a different picture of God in the "forgiven" in that they can see Him through the lens of "Grace" rather than "Justice".
- III. Thus, Mark is Presenting God's Sub-objective (Forgiveness) in View of the Ultimate Objective (Life) Along With God's Primary Method (Faith).
