More on forgiveness
James White at Alpha and Omega Ministries (HT: Joshua at RazorsKiss) points out that our ability to forgive is a gift from God, based on his forgiveness of us:
Those who have not been forgiven find it impossible to forgive. The power that allows us to truly forgive is the same power that has brought us forgiveness. This is one reason why the sticky sentimentality of so much of modern evangelicalism really robs believers of the true power of the Christian faith: we can truly forgive others because we see the cross not as the Big Failure where God tries and fails in so many cases, but for what it truly is. We can see it in its fulness: that place where justice, holiness, wrath, mercy, grace, and love all come together in that one glorious place and time, meeting, and being resolved perfectly, in the Incarnate Son. The person who sees in Christ that perfect atonement for his or her own sins, and understands the great price by which redemption full and free has been purchased, has the ability to forgive others. Only the forgiven forgive. . . we can't, but He can, in us.Amen.
posted by Milton Stanley at 8:34 AM
4 Comments:
Good points. See new post.
Good points all, Mike, and beautifully said! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks (by visiting here) for introducing me to biblemike wonders. Peace.
I think this topic worthy of a great deal of discussion. Forgiveness is so misunderstood, so misapplied, and so many awful conclusions drawn based upon those misundertandings and misapplications, that I sometimes fear to discuss it.
I "amened" your posts here
I'm not sure of Biblemike's statement, "When I forgive you, you are not cleansed, I am." If forgivness is at the heart of God and given birth to in the heart of God, then it would seem to me that it's God's model that we follow. God is not cleansed when he forgives us, nor are we cleansed when we forgive. Forgivness assumes repentance. The moldel of the Scriptures is that when a person repents they are forgiven. I'm not sure that we even have the ability to grant forgivness without repentance. I would ask; Does God anywhere in the Scriptures just arbitrarily forgive us or does He in fact demand repentance as the means of being forgiven? That is an honest question, not a terd attitude.
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