Forgiving: an Act of Faith
Following Jesus in the everyday means living a life characterized by faith. Guys like Abraham demonstrated their confidence in what God says by packing up and leaving their homeland. I haven’t been asked to do that…at least not yet, but I have been invited to declare my citizenship in a new country: the Kingdom of Heaven.
One of the values of that country is forgiveness, the complete release of a person from the penalty of an offense committed by that person.
Most of us are accustomed to how the culture around us deals with being offended: dismiss (It’s okay.), empathize (I understand.), excuse (You’re only human.), bury to be exhumed later in sarcasm (No problem…just be prepared for a zinger!), self-martyr (It’s me…it’s all my fault…I never get it right.), be openly hostile (I will make you pay for that.), keep score (That’s the ____th time you’ve done this to me!), or even “temporarily” pardon (I forgive you…just don’t let it happen again!)
This is not what Jesus says, nor how He deals with our offenses against Him. Forgiveness as Jesus does it requires faith.
Faith is taking action on the basis of what God has said, whether or not we can see or understand it.
What has God said? “Your offenses are forgiven because the sentence due to them was already paid by Jesus.” When I bring myself to Jesus, acknowledging my offenses, and my desperate need of His forgiveness, God declares me forgiven. Period.
This is often the action that requires the most faith: receiving what He has done and freely given to me that no effort nor merit can pay for — God’s complete release of me from the penalty of my offenses!
Once I have accepted the overwhelming gift I have been given, truly forgiving other people’s offenses against me becomes something that faith makes possible!
0 Comments