The Cost of Forgiveness
The Cost of Forgiveness
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16 may be the most quoted verse of all time. However, how many of those who hear it take the time to consider the cost and the benefit of forgiveness? I might venture to say that most people don't think they need forgiveness or that forgiveness is merely saying, "I forgive you." Let us briefly consider together what the Bible has to say about forgiveness.
Jesus understands that everyone needs forgiveness from their heavenly Father and that forgiveness is contingent upon being forgiving. A forgiving spirit does not mean righteousness by the works of the law but a separation to God that produces forgiveness in well-saved people.
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" Matthew 6:14.
"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" Ephesians 4:30-32.
The need to forgive touches everyone because believers have been forgiven so much that there is no other option than to be forgiving. Furthermore, it is essential to be discerning in a fallen world, making it all too easy to become unforgiving amid a need to judge everything.
The Cost of Forgiveness is Love
A man came to Jesus and said, "Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus gave a surprising but not unexpected answer: " Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone" (Mark 10:18). Notice that the man called Jesus a good teacher; he did not refer to Jesus as Lord or God. Then, Jesus pronounced that no one, NO ONE, is good except God alone.
How would you feel about dying for your father's servant, who inwardly, if not outwardly, cursed your father from day to day and would prefer his death so that he could be free from serving him? Your father was absolutely benevolent, with a heart as big as Mount Everest.
Idolatry and adultery are synonymous terms in the Bible, so far as one is an unfaithful marriage partner, and the other is unfaithful to the one and only God. One who is unfaithful as an idol worshipper, which we all are, is at the core wicked as they are always unfaithful to God. A person can say they believe in God, but if they do not live for His pleasure, they deny His person. Therefore, the only way to rectify man's fallen condition was to pay the penalty in his place so that God's presence could take residence within those who believe in God's grace.
The Cost of Forgiveness is Injustice for the Saved
There was no justice for Christ, who died on behalf of sinners, of whom He was not one. Jesus Christ's suffering was the price we should have paid throughout eternity. Nonetheless, despite the injustice done to God's beloved Son, the Father willingly paid the cost of our forgiveness and, in so doing, set us free.
Forgiveness is not saying you forgive; it is absorbing the evil perpetrated against you, paying the price of that evil, and then forgiving, loving, and returning to a relationship gone sour by the other individual. The benefit of forgiveness for the lost was the love the Father bestowed on those who caused His Son's suffering.
The Cost of Unforgiveness is Justice for the Lost
Unfortunately, my following statement is difficult for anyone to accept easily, including believers in the body of Christ. God is not required to forgive anyone of their sins. God is righteously and graciously forgiving, but He will never sacrifice His justice for His love or His love for His justice. God is in perfect balance with Himself.
Therefore, God chose to forgive, nothing constraining Him but His grace, mercy, love, and the perfection of His character. James tells us, "For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment" 2:13.
In English, the word is translated Triumphs, which means Over-exalting one thing at the expense of another, resulting in wrong conclusions – i.e., unjustifiably downgrade by boasting with a sense of false superiority. I am not making this definition up; that is what it means in Greek.
God's righteousness demands justice as satisfaction for His goodness, glory, purity, holiness, and the standard of morality that He dictates. None of these characteristics are outside Himself, but He is the source. This Side of God demands punishment. However, we are told that His mercy triumphs over a part of Himself that cannot and will not be denied. For this reason, Christ went to the cross. God's mercy triumphed over the justice that would not be denied.
Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it" Matthew 7:13. There are multitudes that go the way of glory by the loving, forgiveness of God. However, the way is broad and leads to destruction, and God's mercy did not have to, nor did it triumph over the judgment His holiness demands in their case. God is owing to no man, and if you think He is, you don't know Him as well as you should. Peace and truth be upon you.
The essence of freedom is the love God's forgiveness provides from the judgment God's justice demands. Freedom is always a willingness to do what is right in God's sight. American culture has turned its back on Puritan values, Reform theology, the Gospel's good news, and divine morality. All the talk of freedom in the last sixty years has been nothing more than rebellion against God's truth, a denial of the Gospel, and an offended reaction to a need for mercy. There is no mercy for most of the God-hating people, who kill their babies born out of holy wedlock, immorality gone wild, and scientifically altering the state of people as they were created by God.
"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES" Hebrews 10:26-27.
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