The Freedom of Forgiveness

A Crisis of Conscience

Long ago, in a foreign land, a mother and father rejoiced over the birth of their baby girl.  Her parents had great hopes for her.  As the girl grew, her parents hopes grew with her.  As a young woman, she probably had hopes of one day finding a man who would love her and make her feel special.

At some point in the life of this grown-up young woman, she faced a crisis.  We don't know the details of the circumstances that led to the compromise of her ideals that first time.  Perhaps her family had a financial crisis.  Perhaps her parents died and she could not find work to support herself.  Whatever the reason, at some point in her life, she felt that her circumstances justified taking actions that fell short of her standards.  In short, she traded her virginity for a little money.  In her mind, she may have justified it as something to just help her get out of a temporary crisis.  She told herself it was just this one time.  But, the wound to her soul went deeper than she could possibly imagine.  The word soon got out about her willingness to trade her attention for money, and men started coming around.  Some told her they loved her, and would take care of her.  Part of her believed their lies, but deep down she cried in shame as she traded her youth for a few shekels.  She never thought she would grow up to be a prostitute.  But, now her reputation was stained.  She gave up on  her dreams of love and hopes of finding someone special.  She wished, somehow, that she could change the past.  But, she knew it was too late.  I can only imagine what it might have meant to her to be able to wipe her slate clean, to make a new beginning, to begin life anew.

Do you remember any turning points in your life when you took the low road?  Have you ever been given opportunities to do the right thing, but you shrank from doing what was right?  Have you ever faced temptation, coming right up to the line, and then you crossed the line?  Your conscience told you what was right, but for some compelling reason, you violated your conscience?  Are you struggling today, living in bondage to a burden of guilt?  Are you caught in a web of your own making, entangled in a life that embraces weaknesses, vices, or habits that even you detest in yourself?  Do you feel impatient, or even militantly angry with people who display your same weaknesses?  What would it mean to you if you could wipe your own slate clean, to deal with your own guilt issues, once and for all?

The Meaning of Forgiveness

My thesis is this, that you can find freedom from the guilt of sin through forgiveness from God.  The corollary to my thesis is that you can find freedom from bitterness, and its corrosive effects on your psyche, by forgiving others.

What is forgiveness?  To help define forgiveness we should first understand what it is not.  Forgiveness is not just "forgetting about it," as if it's "no big deal."  It is a big deal.  It is also not about not forgetting about it.  I have heard people say they will forgive, but they will never forget.  Forgiveness is also not avoidance.  Acting like someone doesn't exist, because we don't want to confront a problem, solves nothing.  It may be that many people do not believe in God because they are unwilling to recognize an unresolved issue between themselves and God.

How does the Old Testament define forgiveness?  In the Old Testament, forgiveness was the removal of the impact of sin through a process of atonement.  To forgive through atonement means to "lift up, to carry, support, or to take up or away."  Guilt or punishment for sin is "taken up" from the sinner by the substitute that bears the penalty.  For example, in Leviticus 10:17 it says, "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place?  For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord."

Seven-hundred fifty years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah wrote, "Surely our griefs He Himself, bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  but He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed (Isa. 53:4).

King David may have remembered the time in his life when he committed adultery, then arranged the death of Uriah, so he could have his wife, Bathsheba, when he wrote these words: "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!  How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and whose spirit there is not deceit!  When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of Summer.  I acknowledged my sin to Thee and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; and thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin (Psalm 32:1-5).

How does the New Testament define forgiveness?  The word used for forgiveness in the New Testament means "to be gracious," "to give freely," in the sense of canceling out a debt.  the apostle Paul wrote, "So that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow... but whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:7).  How is it that the fallen angel, Lucifer, (aka, Satan), could take advantage of "us," if we fail to forgive one another?  When there is a debt, you are alienated from your creditor.  Does someone "owe" you an apology.  If you feel they do, no doubt your affection for them is alienated.  Division and bitterness between family members, spiritual brothers and sisters, and between us and God comes from the lack of forgiveness.  "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32).

Another meaning of the word "forgiveness" in the New Testament is to "remove sin by making guilt moot."  The Gospel of Mark says, "And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."  But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mk. 2:5-7)

Another sense of the word forgiveness is "to render free, to release from the bondage of sin."  The Gospel of Matthew says, "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:27-28).  And in the Gospel of Luke it says, "And He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:46-47).

The Means of Forgiveness

What then is the MEANS through which we can be forgiven? 

The first means of forgiveness is by a sacrificial payment of debt.  "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 3:23), but as Hebrews says, "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22).

Secondly, we are forgiven through faith in the sufficiency of Christ.  "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31).  "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7).  "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name (i.e., 'Jehovah saves') everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43).

Thirdly, the means through which we receive forgiveness is by the confession of our transgressions to God.  "I acknowledged my sin to Thee and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD'; and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin (Ps. 32:1-5).

The Motives for Forgiveness

But, how do I know that God will accept my confession.  We know because of the MOTIVE for forgiveness.

The motive for forgiveness is love.  "In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now" (Num. 14:19).  "But, God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).  "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13).

The motive for forgiveness is also grace, the unmerited favor and ability of God to show His goodwill.  "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7).  "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15-16).

The Marks of Those Who Are Forgiven

How do we recognize the MARKS of one who has been forgiven of their sins?  Here we pick up the story of the young woman who had become a prostitute.  Just take note of how she responds to receiving forgiveness:

"And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.'  And Jesus, (knowing his thoughts) answered and said to him, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.'  And he replied, 'Say it, Teacher.' 'A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii (a denarii was a day's wages), and the other fifty.  When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both.  Which of them therefore will love him more?'  Simon answered and said, 'I suppose the one whom he forgave more.'  And He said to him, 'You have judged correctly.'  And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.  For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much;  but he who is forgiven little, loves little.'  And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, 'Who is this man who even forgives sins?'  And He said to the woman, 'You faith has saved you; go in peace'" (Luke 7:37-50).

The fact was, the woman was a sinner, a notorious prostitute.  Yet, she came to Jesus, sensing that, at last, here was someone who might truly love her, who could see she might be redeemed, who might accept her by grace, and deliver her from her shameful past.  It took courage for her to come to Jesus, for he was reclining in the midst of people who shunned her very presence, considering her to be unclean and socially unacceptable.  But, she quietly placed herself at His feet, content to do some small service for the Master by anointing his feet with her best perfume.  As she humbled herself, her broken heart opened up in a shower of repentant tears that washed His dusty feet.  In her brokenness, she wiped His feet with her uncovered hair.

In this story, with whom do you most identify?  Do you feel you are "good enough" to be sufficient before the Savior, like the Pharisee, Simon?  Or, are you a notorious sinner, even a social outcast?  The Pharisee invited Jesus into his house, but the prostitute invited Jesus into her heart.  The Pharisee was proud to be Christ's host for the evening.  the prostitute was humbled before Him, taking the role of a servant.  The Pharisee, filled with doubt, criticized Jesus.  The prostitute devotedly caressed her Savior's feet.  The Pharisee justified himself by comparing his behavior to the greater sinner.  The prostitute, the greater sinner, was justified by Christ, because of her faith in Him.

Another MARK of one who has been forgiven is graciousness to others who may have wronged you, in view of the graciousness of God shown to you for your greater debt of sin.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter asked the Lord, "how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?"  Jesus replied, "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.  And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents (a talent was about 6,000 days' wages).  But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.  The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.'  And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and release him and forgave him the debt.  But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.'  So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patient with me and I will repay you.'  He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.  So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.  Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me.  Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?'  And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.  So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart (Matt. 18:21-35).

The Call to Forgiveness

You too can find freedom from the guilt of sin, the removal of the debt of sin through forgiveness from God.  God will forgive you because of His great love and the grace that He offers because of the all-sufficient payment of the blood of Jesus Christ, who died on a cross in your place. 

If Jesus has forgiven you,  you can find freedom from bitterness, and its corrosive effects on your psyche, by forgiving others.  You have been forgiven much.  By comparison, what others have done to you is less than what the Lord has already forgiven us.  If Christ has forgiven you of your great debt, is there someone today that you need to forgive?

May the love of God the Father, the grace of the risen Son, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit of God be with you as you ponder these things.