Message of the Latter Rain - Kelvin M. Duncan

Chapter 13
Pardon Precedes Confession
Forgiveness preceding repentance is shown throughout the Scriptures.
From Old Testament to New Testament the sacred record is frequently
punctuated with evidence of this truth. Adam and Eve were not destroyed, as
they should have been. Instead, they were pardoned. The children of Israel--
on the borders of the Canaan land, with stones in their hands ready to stone
Joshua and Caleb--enjoyed the benefits of Moses' intercession.
Moses earnestly pleaded on their behalf, "The LORD is longsuffering,
and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means
clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this
people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven
this people, from Egypt even until now." (Numbers 14:18, 19)
Can you imagine the Lord answering Moses, "Oh, no, my friend. I
cannot pardon them until they repent!" The record is clear. God did not
demand repentance first. The next words we read are, "And the LORD said, I
have pardoned according to thy word" (Numbers 14:20).
Amazing, yet true! God pardoned the Israelites before they repented.
The biblical evidence does not fit some of our popular theological theories.
Many are well aware of 1 John 1:9, and it is the heart of their understanding
of the gospel. Thus, they cling to the Arminian principle: "God's grace and
forgiveness and shed blood is only provisional"--available only in the event
one should take the steps required (believe, confess, and repent) to make it
applicable to their individual case. However, when one stops to consider this
concept, one realizes that this constitutes a man-centered view of the plan of
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