Forgiveness: An Act of Love, Mercy, and Grace.

"Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life." -George MacDonald

Did you know that more than a third of Jesus' teachings are parables? It's true! Parables make up 19 percent of the gospel of Mark, 43 percent of Matthew, and 52 percent of Luke. Having a good grasp of them is crucial to understanding the kind of person you and I should be.

Our Lord's parables confront real life problems head-on. That's why we can relate to them so well. For example, the first parable recorded by Luke tackles that difficult problem of forgiveness. Interestingly, the word forgiveness is used sixty-two times in the Bible! If we break this down, that's twenty-two times in reference to forgiving one another, and the other forty times toward God's forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day! For the purpose of today's discussion, let's explore the two types of forgiveness mentioned above, beginning with forgiving one another.

The familiar phrase “forgive and forget” isn't found in the Bible. But, there are plenty of verses commanding us to “forgive one another” (Matthew 6:14; Ephesians 4:32). A Christian who's not willing to forgive others greatly inhibits his fellowship with God (Matthew 6:15) and can gain bitterness and even the loss of reward (Hebrews 12:14–15; 2 John 1:8).

Here's the deal with this: forgiveness is a decision of the will. Since God instructs us to forgive, we need to make a conscious choice to obey God and forgive. It's quite possible that the offender might not want forgiveness nor ever change, but that doesn’t cancel out God’s desire that we possess a forgiving spirit (Matthew 5:44). If everything happens as it should, the transgressor will seek reconciliation, if not, the person who was wronged can still make a decision to forgive.

We know that it's impossible to truly forget sins that have been committed against us. We can't selectively “delete” events from our memory. Yet, the Bible says that God doesn't “remember” our wickedness (Hebrews 8:12). Being all-knowing, God remembers that we've “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Notwithstanding, having been forgiven, we are positionally (or judicially) justified. Heaven is ours, just as if our sin had never happened. If we belong to Him through faith in Christ, God doesn't blame us for our sins (Romans 8:1). And even though you (personally) might not be so forgiving, God “forgives and forgets.”

This brings us to the second type of forgiveness mentioned earlier, God's forgiveness. The Bible tells us that we're all in need of forgiveness from God. We've all committed sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; John 1:8; Psalm 51:4). Therefore, we desperately need God’s forgiveness. If our sins aren't forgiven, we'll spend eternity paying for our sins (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).

How do we obtain His forgiveness? We're in luck because God is loving and merciful – eager  and desirous to forgive us of our sins (2 Peter 3:9). In fact, so much so that He provided for our forgiveness.

To put it bluntly, the only just penalty for our sins is death (Romans 6:23). Fortunately for us,  God, in His perfect plan, became a human being – Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14). He died on the cross, taking the penalty that we deserve – death (2 Corinthians 5:21). As God, Jesus' death provided forgiveness for the sins of the entire world: that's you and me!

Forgiveness of your sins is available if you'll put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior (Ephesians 1:7). Jesus paid our debt for us, so we could be forgiven. All you have to do is ask God to forgive you through Jesus, believing that Jesus died to pay for your forgiveness – and He will forgive you (John 3:16-17)!

There's so much more to this, but the important thing to undersand today is that we can’t earn forgiveness from God. We can’t pay for our forgiveness from God. One can only receive it, by faith, through the grace and mercy of God.

Scripture: Psalm 25:18; Zechariah 7:9; Isaiah 1:18; Ephesians 2:8; 1 John 2:1

Prayer: Dear God, I know that I have sinned against You and deserve punishment. But, Jesus Christ accepted the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. I put my trust in You for salvation. Thank you for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness. Amen

Have a blessed day!

Lani