Two Levels Of Forgiveness

Leviticus 4:13 If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally… and they realize their guilt … the assembly shall offer a bull (v. 14)… and they shall be forgiven (v. 20).

4:22 When a leader sins unintentionally… and realizes his guilt…he shall bring as his offering a goat (v. 23)… and he shall be forgiven (v. 26).

Did this forgiveness mean they were saved eternally?

         Hebrews 10:4  says, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” permanently.

These animal sacrifices symbolized the payment for sin, but they did not accomplish it permanently. Last year’s sacrifice did not cover the next year’s sins. A permanent sacrifice was needed to deal permanently with sin.

People Not Under Grace Are Still Under Law

…just like Israel was. Therefore, there are two kinds of forgiveness: temporary and permanent, earthly and heavenly.

Temporal Atonement

Deuteronomy 21:1 gives an example of finding a murdered man  “lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, [6] And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, [7] and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. [8] Accept atonement, O LORD, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for’” (Deuteronomy 21:6-8 ESV).

This atonement meant that their town would be spared of the Four Horsemen of God’s wrath: war, famine, conquest, and plague. 

How about when Nineveh repented?

“And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them… [10] When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it” (Jonah 3:5-10).

Did this forgiveness mean Nineveh was saved permanently? The Medes did destroy Nineveh 100 years later. When they repented, did they establish God’s law as the law of the land? Did they establish the death penalty for idolatry and sorcery? Did they do away with statism? Evidently their forgiveness was based on an earthly level. “… a broken and a contrite heart, O God You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). “Go and learn what this means, I prefer mercy and not sacrifice.”

Ahab’s Limited Forgiveness

1 Kings 21:24-29 There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited… Elijah predicted God’s curse on him. He said, “Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his [family] who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat” (1 Kings 21:24). …[27] And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. [28] And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, [29] “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

         This same type of conversion happens today. The awakened sinner feels it and thinks he’s saved. But it’s only temporary. God’s mercy can send a strong delusion.

How about Jehu?

         God’s prophet anointed him to wipe out the family of Ahab and all the Baal worshippers. Jehu did it but failed to wipe out golden calf worship. God rewarded him anyway with the promise that his dynasty would endure to the 4^th generation. His dynasty lasted longer than all the other dynasties of Israel. In this case we see God rewarding an idol worshipper on one level and yet cursing him on another level. This proves that not only are their two levels of forgiveness, but also two levels of rewards. One level of blessing can deceive men into thinking God approves of them on all levels.

Two Levels Of Atonement

1 John 2:2

Propitiation means atonement. It means “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath and turns it to favor.”  Christ “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” The unbelieving world gets temporary atonement only. There are two levels of grace.

Common Grace And Special Grace

The whole world receives common grace. One level of forgiveness is by common grace and the other is by special grace. Common grace is what God grants to mankind in common. He rains on the just and the unjust. That’s common grace. Jesus said God is “kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). But even among unbelievers there are various levels of common grace. Outward Christians who are unsaved have more common grace than pagans. “Then what advantage has the unsaved Christian? Or what is the value of baptism? Much in every way. To begin with, unsaved Christians were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar…” (Romans 3:1-4 ESV).

The Two Israels

         When Moses led Israel out of Egypt God said, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.” He was talking about the nation as a whole. All of them were baptized in the sea and the cloud. All ate of the same spiritual bread as a type of Communion. Yet God was not pleased with most of them. Most of them were not true converts. On one level they were all Israel as a whole, but on another “they are not all Israel that are of Israel” (Rom 9:6). There are two Israels and by that I mean two kinds of Christians; the outward and the inward; the visible and the invisible. Therefore, there are two levels of forgiveness and two levels of grace.

Can A Person Be Enlightened While Not Saved?

Hebrews 6

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV).

         Those who believe one can lose his salvation and still be able to repent again, have to disagree with this chapter. These verses prove that a person can share in the Holy Spirit and still not be a genuine convert.

         The Holy Spirit came on King Saul and he was changed into a different man and prophesied. But he was never a genuine convert. He proved it when he had murder in his heart. 1 John 3:15 says, “you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

         Many of our modern so-called converts are awakened only. They find joy in Bible study and church activities, but are still not born again. Even though they preach, cast out devils, and do many good works, the Lord will say on Judgment Day, “I never knew you.”

Can One Be Blotted Out Of The Book Of Life?

“And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book” (Ex 32:33). True converts will never be blotted out because true converts overcome sin. Jesus promised, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” (Rev 3:5).

I believe that when infants are baptized in the name of the Lord, their names are written in God’s book and their sins are forgiven on a common grace level. It does not mean they are born of the Spirit; they are born of water only. Jesus said, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). If baptized infants never get born of the Spirit, their names will be blotted out. On Judgment Day, whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.

What About Infant Baptism?

1 Corinthians 7 says both the children and the unbelieving husband of a Christian woman are sanctified by her faith. That does not mean they are saved. It means they are set apart on a certain level of common grace. So just as forgiveness has two levels, so does sanctification.

Did The Apostles Baptize Infants?

Irenaeus A.D. 130 “He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men.” Irenaeus was 37 years old when his pastor Polycarp was burned to death. Polycarp was born in 80 A.D. and was almost 20 when his pastor, the Apostle John died. This is pretty strong evidence that the apostles practiced infant baptism.

Hippolytus A.D. 215 “Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16)

Origen A.D. 248  “The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit” (Commentaries on Romans 5:9).

Cyprian of Carthage A.D. 253 “As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born” (Letters 64:2). 

Conclusion

So, in conclusion it’s easy to see that there are two levels of faith, two levels of forgiveness, two levels of sanctification, two kinds of grace (common and special), two churches, the visible and the invisible.

As we can see, the visible church has many faults, but Christ still calls it His church. Let’s make our calling and election sure.