Forgiveness. From childhood we are taught it is right to forgive wrongs committed against us, even if that forgiveness isn’t sought. This concept is so ingrained into our lives that instant dread rains down upon our constitution if stubborn selfishness overcomes us. Why forgive? If the entire act creates, when ignored, an instant worry about the function of our own character, is it even necessary? Seriously, who would want to go through life forgiving when a wrong is committed to feeling like a leper in the presence of God when they don’t? I am certainly not willing to live like that. So, why not define forgiveness a little more:
some deserve forgiveness and others don’t; Charles Manson is a monster and doesn’t deserve forgiveness. We are justified in this definition, because forgiveness is something earned. My brother yelled at me then stole my toy therefore I forgive him. Without his actions there was no need for me to forgive him. The underlying implications within this definition are that we earned God’s forgiveness by our sin. Thus, either forgiveness is earned or given undeserved.
For the most part, whether accepted or not, people understand God’s wrath will be poured out upon all non-believers (Romans chapter 1 to chapter 2, and the book of Revelations clarify this rather handily). Most people also understand that God’s wrath is deserving. Try this simple exercise, run a word search of three words in the bible: forgive, forgiveness, and forgave. You will be hard pressed to find where it says because of thy sin you have earned forgiveness.
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. (2 Chronicles 24:18)
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Romans 2:5)
The Bible doesn’t say, “They incurred wrath unto themselves, and then forgiveness.” I used these illustrations for two purposes: 1. Anger/wrath isn’t always wrong and 2. Forgiveness isn’t something earned. God’s forgiveness is wrapped inside His grace. Grace, which was revealed through His Son on the cross and displayed in power through the resurrection. Grace is undeserved; perhaps then forgiveness is, too.
Forgive, according to Crabb’s English Synonyms, “Signify not to give the punishment that is due, to relax from the rigor of justice in demanding retribution.” Consequently, since God forgives by His grace it is necessary to understand what grace is: “Grace results from pure kindness, independently of the merit of the receiver… Grace is never used but in regard to those who offended and made themselves liable to punishment.”
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
To drive this home: forgiveness from God is by the riches of His grace, and thus is undeserved for we deserve wrath for our sins. This truth frees us to forgive by the riches of our grace through the conformation of ourselves to the image of Christ through the renewing of our mind by the word of God! We no longer have to forgive purely because it is the right thing, but because we are sons and daughters of God actively learning to function as our Heavenly Father asks us to.
Back to my illustration of my brother yelling then stealing my toy. He deserves justice for his wrongful act, I would be right in demanding judgment for him. Rather, through my grace I forgive him of his wrong, not for my own good, but because it was the equitable thing for his sake.
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:17-19)
We are to live graciously and with forgiveness in our hearts, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because God, our Father demands it of us. This brings me to my final point. Some say forgiveness is for you as much as it is for the other person. Like the emotions I described in the beginning of this post, not forgiving can leave you fairly dejected about the plight of your character. Yet, forgiveness is not to make you feel good. It is a part of your sanctification (separation from the world to the things of God) as a son and daughter of God. We forgive because it is part of our confirmation to Godly living. We forgive because that is what our Father would do. And when we break what He has asked of us it can lead to bitterness, anger, or even a drifting from the truth. Death ensued from breaking God’s commandment in the garden, what will ensue when we step away from the word of truth by which life is contained? I say this not to scare you into forgiving, but to show why not forgiving can leave a person feeling rotten. It is because we’ve stepped away from the will of God. A will, which for us, is to conform to the image of His son (8:29) through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) by the word of truth. And who better to learn gracious forgiveness from than God Himself?
E. J. Bender
2 comments:
Hi, What do you say about repentence, since we are in the season of lent. If believers are forgiven their sins- past, present and future, then how does repentence fit? I am not averse to repenting,but it confuses me when our Lutheran church stresses repentence and in our liturgy we repeat "Lord have mercy" IM THINKINKING- I already have mercy.
Gary, thank you for your question. It is an excellent question. First lets explore two passages:
Mark 1:14-15 “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.”
A common mistake among pastors today is the use of gospel as a universal word meaning the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. But it appears that there are at least two separate Gospels by merely comparing Mark 1:15 and Romans 1:1. If this is so, then the Gospel of the Kingdom of God required repentance and belief. Nowhere does Paul call for repentance and belief to attain unto salvation as pertains unto the Gospel of God. Consequently, it is worth noting that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God was brought unto Israel. Thus, the call is for Israel to repent according to this distinct Gospel. But according to the Gospel of God the call is to believe and believe only (Romans 10:11). Romans 9-11 teaches us that Israel has been set aside, because of the mystery and will remain separated until a Deliverer comes unto them (Romans 11:15-26). Therefore, the evidence that we are under the Gospel of the Kingdom is slim at best. Thus, repentance is not an issue for us, because through faith we have received salvation and forgiveness. Like you said we have already attained unto mercy.
Repentance does not fit, merely from the standpoint that we are following a different Gospel than was preached unto Israel before they were separated, and the Gospel of God went out unto the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-49). It doesn’t fit because we are not an established nation. Prior to the going forth of the Gospel of God the Gentiles were heathen and had no established guidelines from God. Meaning, they did not know how to walk in righteousness. But Israel did, they had been given a law and entered into a covenant with God. A covenant that we know could not save them divorced from belief in God. And from the Bible we understand that corruption and perversion had crept into Israel. Thus, to even understand that the Kingdom of God was nigh they had to repent of their wicked ways and believe in Christ. If they did not they would not understand the signification of Christ. Whereas, in contrast, we knew not how to walk in righteousness and had nothing to repent from because we were not presented salvation well in advance of our belief: there was nothing for us to repent from!
If your two-year-old son hit is friend while playing would you tell him to repent and ask for forgiveness? He didn’t know what he did was wrong, because he had no understanding of sin, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t commit a wrong. Israel had an understanding of sin and were committing wrong, they needed to repent and change their ways to attain unto the mercies of God. You and I as a gentile are like a baby who does not know right and wrong and because of our nature commit the wrong anyway. Upon education we understand what is wrong and fight it (Romans 7). This is why Paul teaches us to yield our members unto righteousness (Romans 6:13). Paul further teaches that because we are free from sin we CAN yield our members unto righteousness; but this isn’t a default state, our bodies are not automatically servants of righteousness the second we are saved. We must give up ourselves to God.
Having an understanding of sin and knowledge of right and wrong is repentance required? The reason repentance is NOT required anymore is because God removed sin as an issue and freed us to give ourselves up to him (Romans 6:17-20). Because we are freed from sin and God no longer sees sin it never happened (in any way that matters eternally). If something never happened, does it require repentance? If God doesn’t see sin repentance would be redundant.
-E.J.B
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