The Basis of Our Forgiveness

The title will make you think that I'm going to discuss how we get forgiven. Reasonable assumption, but that's not where I'm going. Jesus said, "If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions" (Matt 6:14-15). That kind of makes it important for us to forgive others, doesn't it? So, is our forgiving others like God forgiving us? While some make that assumption, it's easy to see it is not the same thing. God forgives on the basis of His Son's shed blood (Rom 3:24-25) and we do not forgive on that basis. We certainly do not send our son to die for them. So the basis on which we are forgiven by God is that Christ propitiates in His blood. He takes on Himself our sin and God's wrath so that God is appeased and we are justified. On what basis, then, do we forgive?

Most of the world would like us to believe that we forgive just because it's a nice thing to do and a large part of the world would also argue that God forgives just because it's a nice thing to do. It isn't so. God is just. "Nice" is all well and good, but a just God must balance the books. A just God must exact payment where payment is due. A just God must, ultimately, address what Scripture calls "the certificate of debt" (Col 2:14 NASB). Forgiveness is many things, but one thing it is not is justice. We do not forgive to satisfy the demands of justice. So what is the basis on which we forgive?

God gives us a hint when He says, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30). That is, God is dedicated to carrying out justice. You see, in order for a moral system to be functional there must be justice. In order for a moral system to apply to all there must be the certainty that justice will be applied to all. Brave atheists hold forth on what is moral and what is not, but without ultimate justice, it is pointless of them to apply it to anyone else because without justice, morality has no basis. So if God merely forgives, violating justice, He negates not only His character, but His own moral law. On the other hand, if God is the ultimate Judge, ensuring justice for all, then we have no need to demand local justice from anyone. In terms of society we can, perhaps, and in a society we ought to, it seems clear, but in the end, ultimate justice is insured by the ultimate Judge, so we are free to forgive. We don't need, on a personal level, to make sure they get their comeuppance. God will see to that.

Some people find the concept of forgiveness appalling, at least when you apply it to something they condemn. Others find it necessary, even at the expense of justice. (Interestingly, it is often "social justice warrior" types who demand the injustice of forgiveness.) We who trust in God are commanded to forgive, and we can certainly do that 1) given how much God has forgiven us by laying our sin on His Son and 2) knowing He will always do what is right. "I don't need to exact revenge. He's got this." If we understand that justice is God's operating principle, we have no need to refuse to forgive. In fact, unforgiveness would suggest that we have no trust in God ... which could be the reason that Jesus said He won't forgive us if we don't forgive.