Forgiveness

Forgiveness Follows Repentance

Someone has well said that the grace of God is free, but it is not cheap; it costs. The grace of God cost Jesus the agony of death on a cross, and it costs those who wish to receive God's forgiveness the price of repentance, or turning from sin.

The Lord reminded His people of this relationship between forgiveness and repentance by stating His promise to heal their land in terms of a condition: “if… then” (2 Chr. 7:14). To God, forgiveness follows repentance. And repentance is not merely saying, “I am sorry.” Neither is it accomplished by tears and a sad countenance. True repentance means turning away from wicked ways—from thoughts and acts that displease God—and turning toward a life that reflects godly ways.

God cannot bless evil, and He will not reward those who practice evil. To do so would violate His very nature. So if we want His blessing, we must honor His character by pursuing His ways. “Be holy”.He urges us, “for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:15–16).

No Forgiveness!

People speak of committing the “unpardonable sin”.but in His severe comments to the Pharisees (Matt. 12:31–32), Jesus indicated that it is more than just a figure of speech—it is a matter with eternal consequences!

Can people ever sin so badly that God cannot forgive them? The answer is yes and no. It's important to realize that the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross paid for all of the sin of the world (John 1:29; Rom. 5:12–21; 8:3). There is no sin that God has not overcome through Christ. That means that no one ever has to fear going beyond the scope of God's grace or power. Sometimes people despair because they have committed certain sins that to them seem unforgivable. But no matter what their failure has been, God can and will forgive their sin if they come to Him in repentance (Acts 2:38; 1 John 1:9).

At the same time, it is possible to willfully place oneself beyond the grace of God—to persist in rebellion and sin and resist His call to repentance. This, essentially, is what the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders did (compare Acts 7:51–52). Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:28). His enemies claimed that He cast them out by the power of Satan (“Beelzebub,” 12:24). The accusation was evidence that they had rejected Him.

It also slandered the Holy Spirit, revealing their spiritual blindness, a warping and perversion of their moral nature that put them beyond hope of repentance and faith—and therefore beyond forgiveness.

Is there an “unpardonable sin”? Not for those who cry out like the tax collector in a parable of Jesus, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). But those who, like the Pharisee in the same parable (as well as the Pharisees in this incident), trust to their own self-righteousness, reject Christ, and slander His Holy Spirit reveal a spiritual cancer so advanced that they are beyond any hope of healing and forgiveness.

Extreme Forgiveness

If Peter gasped when Jesus told him to forgive his brother up to seventy times seven times (Matt. 18:22), he must have gagged when he heard the parable that followed.

The first servant owed ten thousand talents to the king (18:24). The second servant owed one hundred denarii to the first servant (Matt. 18:28). This was an extraordinary difference in indebtedness. A talent was a lot of money, perhaps one thousand dollars in today's currency. But in that culture, it probably represented far more. A talent equalled six thousand denarii, and one denarius was what a common laborer could earn in one day.

So the first servant owed at least ten million dollars, but from the standpoint of common wages, he would have had to work sixty million days to pay off his debt! By contrast, the second servant owed sixteen to eighteen dollars, which he could earn in one hundred days. In other words, the first servant owed the king more than the second servant owed the first servant by a ratio of at least six hundred thousand to one!

Somehow, after Jesus finished that parable, seventy times seven probably didn't look so bad to Peter!

Two Sides of the Coin

“Think positive” is the message preached from many pulpits today. And for good reason: the message of salvation in Christ is good, positive news in a world that sometimes seems more and more depressing by the day.

However, before we can fully embrace the good news about God's Son, we must first accept the bad news about our own sin. Psalm 106 is the flip side of Psalm 105. Both recall Israel's history. But whereas Psalm 105 is an enthusiastic celebration of the Lord's faithfulness, Psalm 106 focuses on the continuing unfaithfulness of His people. Still, the piece is not without hope: the Lord remains committed to mercy, forgiveness, and doing the mighty wonders necessary to sustain His wayward children (Ps. 106:44–46). No wonder the psalm concludes with a blessing for the Lord “from everlasting to everlasting” (Ps. 106:48).

If Psalm 105 stood alone, the forgetful student of history might assume that God swept His people into the Promised Land with no setbacks or opposition. But Psalm 106 puts things in perspective. As we look at that same history, it confronts us with the ugly face of sin and shows why people (and nations) so badly need forgiveness. Thus Psalms 105 and 106 show the two realities involved in salvation: sin and grace. Focusing on either one without the other will lead to distortion.

The Power of Forgiveness

The crowd that watched Jesus heal the paralytic responded enthusiastically to His dramatic display of power (Matt. 9:8). But they overlooked His more significant ability to forgive sins—a power that deeply troubled the scribes (Matt. 9:2–3).

The power of forgiveness is immeasurable. Jesus challenged us as His followers to forgive others who have wronged or hurt us (Matt. 6:14–15; 18:21–35). That may seem like a simple act, but anyone who has struggled with pain and anger knows that it takes enormous power to authentically forgive—to lay aside one's hurt and reach out to an offender with the embrace of a pardon. On the other side, forgiveness can release the wrongdoer from paralyzing guilt and even turn around the course of that person's life (James 5:19–20).

Forgiveness is as powerful and liberating as the healing of a paralytic. And it's a power that Jesus has delegated to His followers (John 20:23).