A Most Wonderful Thing

Forgiveness is a most wonderful thing and we all need it. We need it from God and we need it from one another. Anyone who thinks forgiveness is a small thing probably thinks sin and offense are also small things. They are not. Sin, original sin and personal sin, separates people from God. It also separates people from people.

Forgiveness is a most wonderful thing because it restores a basis for fellowship. It clears the account of an offender so that a debt is no longer owed, officially or otherwise. It gives rest to the conscience of an offender and restores the possibility of a renewed relationship. Does that mean we will instantly give an offender the same benefit of the doubt, as before? No. But when we forgive we must allow the forgiven person to earn our trust again over time.

Are we quick to forgive? Or do we require the proverbial ‘pound of flesh’ before we even consider forgiving? Must someone “Do penance” first? Repentance is a change of mind, not atonement. Penance is attempted atonement. Acts of contrition may be what men want from one another, but God desires repentance. While men would have us make it up to them, God desires truth in the inward man. God requires repentance of those who desire His forgiveness, a genuine change of mind.

When we recognize that we have offended another person, remorse is fitting and repentance is too. The change of mind that made us see our sin as sin must also lead us not to repeat our error. This amounts to basic personal growth. A person who is unable to see his sin for what it is cannot repent and, therefore, cannot grow as a person. Almost all real personal growth involves change of mind.

Forgiveness is a most wonderful thing, but we must not take it for granted. The idea that we should all be forgiven, whether or not we ever express an awareness of our wrongdoing or a change of mind about the wrongness our offense – well, that is not an idea that gains traction with anyone. When anyone expects the forgiveness of another while justifying the wrong of their actions or attitudes or words, that person is sure to be disappointed. When God Himself is pleased to forgive someone, He brings that someone to see his sin as sin, and He then brings that person to a place of believing repentance, usually with a tinge of real sorrow for having offended One who is absolutely pure and holy and glorious.

Indeed, forgiveness is a most wonderful thing and the best forgiveness of all is the forgiveness of God. It is the forgiveness we need most of all. His forgiveness is free to all who believe the gospel and repent of their sin. But this forgiveness is not absolutely free; it cost God Himself an awesome price, His one-of-a-kind, eternal Son. It cost the eternal Son everything; indeed, for a time Jesus “laid His glory by” and permanently took unto Himself true humanity. Then, as God and Man, Jesus died the death of the cross to accomplish our redemption, once for all.

Christ came into this world at precisely the right time for one purpose: to save sinners. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He came to live a life of sinless, perfect obedience to His Father and then to give that life to bear God’s wrath in the place of sinners. As Christ Himself put it, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). By His death He paid the full penalty that was owed to God’s own justice by those whom He forever loved and determined to save.

Forgiveness, God’s forgiveness is the most wonderful thing. It means peace with God. It means reconciliation to the One our sins are against in the foremost sense. It means life out of spiritual death. It means eternal life in a loving relationship with God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It means life now and forever. It means regeneration – a new start that stays new, day by day. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Would you be forgiven? Forgiveness is a most wonderful thing. –Pastor TSA