Reflections on God: Forgive Us Our Debts

Time for the next look at God. And to do that we’re going to use the next petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6.12)

Let’s start with a quote that someone famous is supposed to have said on his deathbed: ‘God will forgive me. It’s his job.’ Now, if it were just this person who thinks in this way, who would care? But, sadly, there are many who agree with him. They may never actually say what he said, but it is an assumption that they have about life. It’s God’s job to forgive - which, of course, He will always do. And what is even sadder is that many of these people are Christians. Again, they may not say anything like this out loud, but it is an attitude of their hearts, an assumption about life. And that is so very dangerous.

Scripture to Meditate On

And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. Luke 15:18-24

What a glorious picture of God's forgiveness. The wayward son returns home to a whole-hearted forgiveness and welcome. This is made all the more striking because of the son's very reasonable expectation. He figured that his dad would be so very angry with him. And he should have been! After all, the son really did blow it.

Remember this when you next do something stupid, some dumb sin. Come repentant to the Father and then believe in His whole-hearted forgiveness and welcome.

Scripture to Meditate On

If you, O Yahweh, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. Psalm 130.3-4.

Who is able to stand? Such a good question. It comes from the psalmist who understands his awful sinfulness. He knows what he deserves.

However, and this is a big 'however', Yahweh forgives. Here, the psalmist is struck by the wonder of grace. And that leads him to fear.

Fear doesn't make sense to so many these days. But that is because so many these days are not gripped, deeply gripped, by the mystery of God. But the psalmist is. 'Who is this God who forgives this terrible sinner? What is this grace that He grants to me? This God is like no one that I have ever encountered.'

Forgiveness

We’re back to looking at some of the high points of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. In the part of the letter that we’re going to look at, he proves and illustrates the Gospel that he was explaining in the previous parts of his letter. To do this, he refers to two prime Old Testament examples, Abraham and David. Today, we are going to consider what David wrote which Paul quotes here. Listen.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Romans 4.6–8

Pastoralia: Why Forgive?

People sin against us lots of times. And there are those times when some of them come to us, repentant, asking that we forgive them. Some of the times it's easy to forgive. Other times it's a bit more challenging, but still doable. But there are those times when it just seems impossible. What that person did to us feels unforgivable. It's those times that I want to talk about.

Pastoralia: Forgiveness

Pastoralia: Things having relation to spiritual care or guidance; the duties of a pastor.

 Oxford English Dictionary

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Most merciful God, I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Last time, prompted by the prayer above, I wrote about mercy. Today, we’re still looking at the same phrase, but the other part of it: ‘forgive me’. What does that mean? When I pray this part of the prayer what am I asking God to do? What is this forgiveness that I am requesting?

Some think of forgiveness in terms of not being punished for their sin. Others, who may not think in terms of divine punishment, consider this more like asking God not to hold that sin against them. I’d like to suggest that the idea of forgiveness is more than either of these. What I’m asking God to do is to forget that I ever sinned. This is asking for more than not being punished or not holding that sin against me because in both of those cases He just might remember what I’ve done. And while He may not punish me or hold it against me, the memory of that sin just might affect His relationship with me in the future because the sin is still there.

Now, is asking God to forget what I did asking too much? Not at all. And I can say that with confidence because that’s exactly what God has promised to do. Here’s just one example.

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43

Now, what’s this about? Amnesia? (Can God even have amnesia?) No, it’s not amnesia. But it is a promise to forget all about that sin, to act toward me as if it never happened. And He can do that because of Jesus. 

Believing this gives me peace. God will never bring up some old sin of mine. He refuses to let it affect our relationship. Refuses. And that is true even if I sin in the same way again. He will never say, ‘Have you done that again?!?’, and then wonder what He should do about it. Forgiven sin is forgotten sin. And because of that I can live confidently since things between me and my God are good. They are always good.

A Prayer for Forgiveness

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ​Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 

The beginning of David's prayer after he had an affair with a man's wife, got her pregnant, had her husband murdered to cover it up and then, for months, acted as if nothing happened.

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David, are you kidding me? What audacity! You want God to forgive you for what you did? To forgive you, just like that? Don't you have any sense of how despicable you are? Have you no shame? Can even God forgive such wickedness?

And you think that He will do this just because you ask Him to? What arrogance! Don't you think that He'll expect just a little more than some words? Shouldn't you have to prove that you are worthy of this forgiveness, that you deserve it?

David, where did you get such foolish ideas?

A Forgiven Sinner: Part 2

Part 1

The other day I sinned (No surprise there!) and then thought about this whole ‘feeling remorse but you’re forgiven’ thing once again. I had confessed what I had done, and let me assure you that I felt remorse for it. But then, I told myself that I was forgiven. I really shouldn’t be. I should be in hell suffering God’s justice for what I had done. But I wasn’t and wouldn’t be. I was forgiven. Then, I told myself that what I should do is rejoice that Jesus has provided forgiveness for me. So, I did.

A Forgiven Sinner

I’ve been working on resolving a tension in my thinking about forgiveness. On the one hand, I know that I need to acknowledge my sin before the Father and to express the remorse that I feel about that sin. True repentance needs to have some sense of remorse. If I do not regret what I’ve done how can I be repenting of it? And yet, since there is forgiveness there is to be a limit to my expression of, my feeling of, remorse. When the Father forgives my sin, the matter has been dealt with, and it is to be forgotten. He forgets it, and He calls me to do the same. My problem is that there is a delicate balance between proper remorse and forgetful forgiveness – a balance that I don’t have down yet. I have to tell myself that since I’ve confessed my sin to the Father, it has been dealt with. I should no longer feel remorse. Actually, it’s more than that. Instead of remorse I should feel the joy of knowing my sins are forgiven. There is no room for remorse when there is joy. And yet, I am afraid of a cheapened idea of forgiveness where remorse is quickly passed through, almost ignored, on the way to forgiveness and its joy. But isn’t that tied to some silly idea that I will be forgiven only if I’m sorry enough? And isn’t that trying to save myself by something that I do? I’ve made some progress over the years, but there is further to go. I know, however, that because of the Spirit I will make some more progress before I see Jesus. And that will be very good.

Until there was no remedy

I read this during this morning's Bible reading:

But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:16)

I was struck by the last phrase, 'until there was no remedy.' There comes a point when not even God will forgive. His only option is wrath - even when it comes to His people. How sobering.