Conversion iii / Forgiveness
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(Eph.4:32-5:2)
Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.
(Ps.86:4-8)
Forgiveness is absolutely central and foundational to our conversion and discipleship. The Apostle John writes to ‘dear children’, the youngest of Christians ‘because your sins have been forgiven on account of His Name’ (I Jn.2:12). But what is ‘forgiveness’? And almost as important: What is it not? If we answer either (or both) of these questions inaccurately, we will find ourselves struggling to understand our experience of God, and disoriented in our own attempts to forgive others. Forgiveness is altogether far more profound than we tend to imagine. When we realise that the cost of forgiveness – at any level – is the death of Christ we may begin to appreciate that the mechanics of forgiveness is more complex than an apology and a ‘Don’t worry about it’ (or worse, a shrug and a ‘There’s nothing to forgive’).
What does it mean to speak of God’s forgiveness of us? It is the cancelling of the moral debt that is incurred by our sin, or better: it is His bearing the cost of that sin. We owe love to God and to one another, and failure to love both God and neighbour puts us in debt to both (it’s interesting how often the idea of debt / cancelling debt is used to convey the reality of sin and forgiveness, e.g. Matt.6:12; 18:21-35 etc.). This concept of forgiveness is built into the worship of the ancient Church with festivals such as the Year of Jubilee It is axiomatic that such sin cannot simply be discounted without violating the justice of God. Rather, it is imputed / credited to Christ who pays our debt on the cross (Ps.32:2; I Tim.2:6; I Pet.1:18-19). This ‘legal’ and moral transaction, is the only foundation on which the relational dynamic of forgiveness can be built (Heb.9:22; Ps.49, esp.vv7-8 & 15). God’s commitment to us in forgiving us is that He will not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (see Ps.103:10). He will not allow our history of sin to shape how He relates to us. That will be shaped rather by our being united now with Christ. We can immediately see that this is not a passive thing, nor is it the simply ignoring of our sin, letting us get away with it, or a kind of spiritual ‘sweeping it under the carpet’. It is a costly and deliberate choice by God, made possible by the cross that allows God to relate to us differently. He agrees to pay our debt.
In the Bible, this is captured in the language of ‘remembrance’. God speaks of remembering the covenant (i.e. His dealing with us in Christ, so e.g. Jer.14:20-21), and conversely of not remembering our sin (e.g. Is.43:25; Jer.31:34). This is not merely a ‘forgive and forget’, as if that were even possible; it is rather that conscious decision to not remember them so that they will not be used against us, and won’t affect our ‘standing’ before Him. He chooses to relate to us on the basis of Christ, rather than our sin. It might be helpful to distinguish between God relating to us as Judge (in which He doesn’t remember our sins to condemn us, but forgives us once-for-all); and as Father (in which He does remember our sins, forgiving us on an ongoing basis, and disciplining us and training us into Christlikeness). Indeed, when Jesus is speaking about our ongoing experience of forgiveness it is always in the context of God as Father (see e.g. Matt.6:9-15; Mk.11:25; Lk.6:36-37). We’ll revisit this in our later study on Justification.
Forgiveness is not an end in itself. It is a means to reconciliation, and the restoration of fellowship. This is true in terms of our relationship with God in Christ, and it is true of our relationships with one another in Christ. It is not often understood that forgiveness – properly understood – is a uniquely Christian experience, which cannot extend beyond the borders of the Church (see, For Further Reflection). This clarity enables us to make an important distinction, and one that will help us capture a vision for our congregations as communities of grace. We often talk of churches as ‘places of acceptance’. Everyone, we think, should be accepted (as they are?). Rooting forgiveness in the dynamic of the cross helps us to keep balance here. Churches accept people on the same basis as Christ does: repentance and faith, and this links grace and forgiveness to holiness. Churches are forgiving communities, but they aren’t condoning ones.
Questions
What do you mean when you say ‘I forgive you’?
Read Lk.17:3-6. What is the first step in the process of forgiveness? What does this preclude? What if you are the offender?
Can you forgive someone who hasn’t repented? How do you know someone has repented sincerely? Is it sincere repentance if an offense is repeated (seven times!)? What is the difference between ‘repentance’ and an apology?
What about Lk.23:34 & Acts 7:60? Does this contradict Jesus’ teaching in Lk.17:3-4? Does God forgive without repentance?
What if you don’t feel like forgiving them? Or what if you feel that you can’t forgive them?
Read I John 1:5-2:2
How does John’s description of God inspire your own desire for ‘light’ throughout your life (1:5)? How does that manifest itself?
What does John mean by ‘walk in the light’ (1:7)? …and conversely ‘walk in the darkness (1:6)?
How can John be so optimistic about our progress in righteousness, when our experience of ongoing sin is so debilitating (see 1:7;1:9; 2:1)?
What does it mean to confess our sin (1:9)? Should we confess our sins publicly (Jas.5:16)? Why do you think we include corporate confession so regularly in services of Christian worship?
Why does John link God’s forgiving us our sins with (a) His faithfulness, and (b) His Justice (1:9)?
If Christ’s death is sufficient for the sins of the whole world, why is everyone not forgiven (see 2:2)?
Memory Passage:
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Ps.25:6-11
For further reflection:
Once we have appreciated the inextricable connection between the cross and forgiveness we are in a position understand that those who are not Christians cannot –properly speaking - be forgiven (…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Heb.9:22). We may already realise that in terms of their relationship with God, but it is also true in their relationship with other people, including us. This sounds counter-intuitive… after all, aren’t we supposed to forgive everyone? The short answer is ‘No’. To put it bluntly, not even God forgives everyone! Why do we try and set for ourselves a higher bar than God meets? Yes, there are several commands in the Scriptures to forgive, such as Col.3:13, ‘…forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you’. But even here there is a hint of the necessary limits of forgiveness. First, Paul’s injunction is written to Christians in the context of their relationships to one another within the life of the church. And secondly, he qualifies it: ‘…as the Lord forgave you’. We’ve already seen that even within the life of the Church forgiveness requires repentance as a precondition.
The reason is simple. I cannot forgive someone whom God has not forgiven (the two aspects of sin and forgiveness are deeply intertwined). If sin (moral debt) isn’t cleared at the cross, then there cannot be forgiveness either from God or from us. We can do a lot: adopt a posture of willingness; live with their ‘debt’; pray for them to be forgiven; refuse to take revenge; refuse to get caught here and defined by their sin against me; repay evil with good. But I cannot forgive.Paul recognises that forgiveness might not always be possible (Rom.12:18), and so should we.
