We are creatures of habit. We experience
our circumstances and environment, gain knowledge, take decisions, and form our
comfort zone. If I travel regularly on a particular road, I seldom ignore it,
unless a diversion forces me. When I experience a better alternate, I view it
with skepticism, but when I am convinced, the alternate is my comfort. This may
be true to all facets of life - roads, relationships, and even theology. We
could habitually think of God as if HE were human, and even find comfort in knowing
HIM as one. But God isn’t human! Any thought of God as a human is assuredly erroneous.
God does not forgive as humans do.
God cannot be contained in time. HIS
attributes of infinity and eternality defy time. God has no ‘before’ and
‘after’ (HE is conscious of our past, present and future). We live in time; we are
in the ‘present,’ reminisce the ‘past,’ and ignorant of our ‘future.’ At best,
our knowledge of future may be based on educated assumptions, which could be
incorrect. But God knows everything (omniscience). HE knows our speech even
before that word is on our tongue (Psalm 139:4). Hence, God’s forgiveness
should be seen in light of HIS attributes.
God is like a person seated on the top
floor of a high rise building, observing the action on the ground. Below the
high rise, in a narrow lane, the person sees two cars traveling towards each
other at a high speed. The drivers cannot sight each other because of a blind curve
in the road, but the blind curve does not obstruct the person on the high rise.
Although the drivers are unaware of their imminent collision (future), the
person on the high rise is.
Being seated high above ground, the
person transcends time by observing all events on the ground. At a specific
time, he sees events occurring at different places on the ground that the
ground dwellers are unaware of. When one transcends time, the knowledge of various
points in time is gained.
When someone repents for offending me, I
forgive him in ignorance, for I am ignorant of a repeated offense. My
forgiveness is based on a blind belief. But God knows our future. When we
repent of our sin against God, we will repeat the same or another sin in the
future.
If I truly repent of a sin, God forgives
me. If I repeat the same sin after 3 days and repent, I am confident that God
has forgiven me. If I repeat the same sin after 30 days and repent, I am still
confident of God’s forgiveness. In reality, I am travelling through time – I
commit a sin on day 1, and repeat it on day 4 and 34. We travel through time, but
God is outside time. We ought to incorporate this fact about God when we comprehend
HIS forgiveness.
When God forgives me, HE knows precisely
when and where I would repeat that sin in the future. HE also knows what other
lesser or greater sins I will commit. God is not only infinite and eternal, HE
is omniscient.
When God forgives me, HE forgives me not
because of what I do, but because of what HE has done through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ died and rose again for the sins of our past, present, and
future. When man repents of his sins and accepts the Lord Jesus as his savior,
he is forgiven once and for all.
The repentance of a person who refuses
to believe in Christ would not be forgiven in an absolute sense, for he is
bound to sin again.1 He lacks the protection of Christ’s perfect
sacrifice, which is through belief. Since God is omniscient of our future sins,
it is impossible for us to receive absolute forgiveness without believing and
accepting Christ as savior. We need absolute forgiveness for we are sinful
beings.
Examine this situation from the human
perspective. A person lies to his friend. After a couple of days, he lies
again, repents, and his gracious friend forgives him. If he continually lies to
his friend over a span of a month, the friend will refuse to take any
repentance seriously, and probably won’t forgive him anymore. Even if he
forgives, his forgiveness will be soaked in disbelief. On the contrary, if this
individual wasn’t a perpetual liar, the friend would have considered the
repentance as genuine. If the friend possesses knowledge of the person’s
inability to speak the truth, his repentance will not be considered genuine and
worthy of forgiveness. There is no absolute forgiveness for sins, since God knows
that man is a chronic sinner. However, God’s love, grace, mercy, and compassion
will never cease, hence man exists.
But why repent if God knows we are
chronic sinners? For the sake of clarity, we should observe the christian and non-christian
dimensions.
God has blessed us with the second
person of the blessed trinity, Jesus Christ, (HIS sinless life, death and
resurrection) as the only means for forgiveness of sins. Outside of Christ,
there is no sacrifice for sins and hence no forgiveness (cf. Hebrews 10:
26-27).Those who believe and accept Christ as their only God and savior are
forgiven of all their sins. This is the christian dimension. The non-christian dimension
is that there is no forgiveness of sins, because the one who refuses Christ
remains a sinner till his last breath; hence God does not forgive him. Thus
repentance without believing in Christ is a futile exercise for a
non-christian.
Why must a christian repent, when he has
been forgiven of all his sins – past, present and future? Repentance, for a christian, is a plea to God and a volitional
affirmation of his continuous endeavor, by the power of God, to overcome his
sinful nature into a loving obedience to Christ. This is an on-going growth
process of holiness in a christian. Both God and the christian know that sin is
imminent, but there is an effort on the part of the christian, with God’s help.
The effort succeeds through prayer and God’s power. Sin can be overcome, but
not to sinless perfection. Moreover, holiness should not be imprisoned in time.
Some, by God’s grace, discard their sins sooner, and some later. But we are so
full of sins that being sinless is impossible in this time and age.
Sin separates a christian from God
(Isaiah 59: 2), but not from an eternal perspective. When a christian sins, he
cannot receive God’s blessings to the fullest (cf. John 15: 5). Thus a christian
pleads to God for power to discard sins, the desire to love and obey HIM, and to
be in constant fellowship with God. Thus repentance enhances his love for God,
and the spiritual blessings of God increases in the one who depends on God for
his sustenance and this man enjoys God abundantly.
Finally, will God forgive a man who
genuinely repents of his sins, but hasn’t forgiven his debtor (cf. Matt 18: 35)?
God will judge this man from an earthly perspective and not eternal. If I don’t
forgive my debtor, I will not be a resident of hell in eternity, but I will
have to face God’s judgment, whatever it may be, in this time and age.
If you disagree, then please do not
hesitate to enlighten me. Amen.
Notes:
1 Man is sinful from birth. No one
teaches a child to lie or covet, but the child lies and covets.
5 comments:
Man is told to forgive another for their sins 'umpteen' times, i.e. without limit. Where does the scripture tell you that God will do less?
@ Sam Carr: Could you please elaborate your question?
"There is no absolute forgiveness for sins..." throughout Jesus teaching He contrasted how we would wish to behave with how God our father will behave. He was specifically asked about chronic sin and replied that forgiveness must continue indefinitely. Will God do less?
"There is no absolute forgiveness for sins..." throughout Jesus teaching He contrasted how we would wish to behave with how God our father will behave. He was specifically asked about chronic sin and replied that forgiveness must continue indefinitely. Will God do less?
God's plan for forgiveness is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who believe in Christ will receive the blessing of forgiveness (am staying within the context), those who refuse to believe in Christ, will not. So you are right, God has indeed done it all, and that's what I have said in my blog as well.
So God hasn't done less, HE will never do less. That's not God.
Christ is God's plan for the redemption / salvation of mankind. But those who do not believe in Christ will fall away due to their choice. God cannot be blamed.
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