"For 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)The text leaves me with a dilemma. We know we are not saved by works (Rom 3:20; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) but this text appears to say that those who don't forgive others cannot be forgiven by God. It appears to list a particular work -- forgiving others -- that prevents "saved by grace through faith" if not carried out. It goes along with that parable Jesus told about the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:23-35), where the unforgiving servant was handed over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed (Matt 18:35).
I've known Christians who have told me, "I will not forgive ..." "I will not forgive that guy who did that to my sister." "The Nazis killed my parents in the concentration camps. I'll never forgive them." "Me? Forgive him? Not gonna happen." Christians. So what can we conclude? Have they lost their salvation? Let's ask that a different way. Was Jesus mistaken when He said, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand" (John 10:29)? "Well, Jesus," we would have to say, "almost no one." Of course, that can't be true. So, no, there is no lost salvation here. What, then? The failure -- refusal -- to forgive others here is equated with -- tied to -- God's refusal to forgive. It is not lost salvation, but it is serious. I think, though, I've found the solution. I've made sense of it.
In the story of Jesus and Simon, the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), Jesus explains to Simon why the sinful woman anointed His feet. He gives the example of a moneylender who has two debtors: one owed 500 denarii and the other owed 50. The moneylender forgives both. And Jesus asks Simon, "Which of them will love him more?" Jesus explained that the woman loved more because she was forgiven much, "but he who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:47). You see, when we come to Christ in faith, we are changed. We cannot come to Christ in faith and not change. Jesus pointed out "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt 7:16, 20) because we do what is in our nature to do (Luke 6:45). So, if we refuse to forgive, according to Jesus, we must not have been forgiven. So the lack of forgiveness is an indicator of an unforgiven person. The lack of forgiveness is not causal in the Father not forgiving; it is indicative. So how are you at forgiving others?
I recoil when Christians respond in great anger, specifically a long while after the event. If you're not willing to forgive, what does that say about your understanding about your Father's forgiveness? He forgave us while we were in open rebellion against Him. How can we experience that kind of forgiveness and not be forgiving for the comparatively minor offences others do against us. Plus, in withholding forgiveness of others, we are telling God that His justice is not enough. If we don't rely on God's vengeance, and the person is not a believer, we are heaping condemnation on the condemned that we don't have the authority for, worse, of they are a believer, we attempt to invalidate the salvation of Christ on that person.
ReplyDeleteI can be OK at forgiving others, on occasion. The story Corrie Ten Boom tells of being confronted with one of the guards at the concentration camp she was in, and forgiving him sometimes puts the wrongs I've been done in perspective.
ReplyDeleteSince being born again involves an admittance of one’s sinful state before a righteous God in exchange for forgiveness of sins, a Christian should hold an ever-growing debt of gratitude. If I then seek to extend the same grace to others that has been shown to me by the Lord, I will be quick to forgive my offenders. My model in all things, including forgiveness, is Jesus Christ, who offered no retaliation toward His offenders--even forgiving them from the cross. Anything less is dishonoring to the Lord and will best describe one walking in the flesh rather than the spirit. May I treat others with the same graciousness God extended to me.
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