Forgiveness

Every Sunday morning we ask God to forgive us. All of those times during the week when you wished a bolt of lightening would strike down your teacher to escape class for at least one day. When you foolishly thought you could drive through traffic in town on a Friday afternoon and found yourself saying things that would make the Devil blush after 10 minutes of waiting in line. So here we are, confessing our weaknesses and begging for forgiveness but we often withhold forgiveness from others. Yet, the Lord Jesus issues a startling warning in Matthew 6:15: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (kjv)

I believe mercy produces tolerance. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, Chap. 5:14 says, "... encourage the faint hearted, help the week, be patient with all of them." Now, how can you be patient with the obnoxious, the hypocrites and the boastful? But in judging them and giving them these labels don’t we our selves become the very hypocrites we hate when we are to love our neighbours as ourselves? Our do we believe in what I consider is the most famous quote from George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Well, I think the best way is to understand that a lot of people who are out of step are really in a lot of pain. We need to stop focusing so much on their external behavior and look more closely at their internal hurt. Usually behind every peculiar action there is a need for attention, caused by loneliness, hurt, or depression. Merciful people are accepting people. They’re not quick to criticize or to judge, they realize that hurtful people are hurting people. I once read that into every life a few weirdoes must fall. So, be patient with the unique.

When we choose to not forgive others, we have not yet realized that the only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. For we read that: "In Him we have redemption through His blood" as expressed in the letter to the Ephesians 1:7. From the Bible we are taught to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. We were also told that those who do not forgive have not become one with Christ, who was willing to forgive even those who crucified Him.

God forgives us only on the basis of the Cross of Christ, the agony at Calvary, the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Without the atonement God will not forgive. Those that do not forgive others have never truly repented of their own sins; they have not truly believed the Gospel. James 2:13 says “Judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy.”

The letter to the Romans 8:1 & 2 clearly states that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and of death. If we believe this to be true, then no matter what sin we have ever committed or ever will commit, there is no condemnation if we are in Christ…right? In Christ, God does not condemn us, but is well pleased with us.

However, this is not a license to sin.

We can’t just go down the road, shoot the cashier at Valu Mart for giving us the wrong change and come to church on Sunday ready to have our sins blessed away. For when we sin, we must judge our hearts as to why we sin, acknowledge that we have sinned and confess the sin to God.

If you are in Christ Jesus, He has forgiven your sins - past, present, and future. Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, completed the work of redemption; He is the final sacrifice for us. This does not prevent us from sinning, but it does prevent us from being condemned for sinning. His atonement is a perpetual atonement always being made for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Any person or system to gain salvation through good deeds rejects the significance of Christ’s death and the work of the Holy Spirit. I think we need to be wary of anyone who tells us that Christ’s sacrifice still leaves us incomplete, or that something else is needed to make us acceptable to God. We cannot be saved by our good deeds. The Bible teaches “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God- not the result of work, so that no one may boast.” in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 2:8 & 9.

What then happens when, and not if, a believer dies and has unconfessed sin? The letter to the Romans 8:1 settles that argument. As earlier stated there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. However, for those who are in Christ, there are some who will try and persuade you that you must continually seek forgiveness in order to be what you already are. Maybe those sorts of preachers who would say “the lord would be very pleased, if my wife were pleased; and she would be very pleased with a new car.” And instantly a new car is bought to appease God and a guilty conscience of a parishioner. This is a work-based salvation and places the actions of man at the center of salvation rather than Christ Himself. We become Christians through God’s unmerited grace, not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service on our part.

We must forgive as we hope to be forgiven; God has forgiven our debt, therefore, we also should forgive others.

So I must ask you today…have you forgiven the people who have wronged you?

Karel-Maria Hodge