On forgiveness. (Part 7)

On forgiveness

Part 7: God’s forgiveness and God’s judgement go hand in hand

Do we now have a problem for the Christian? We are aiming to be the sort of people who have the grace to forgive others. Yet we seem to be in the position of passing a condemning judgement. Is this compatible with forgiveness? The logic of the situation must be that it is. Fact are facts – the other person acted badly. (Of course, we must take into account extenuating circumstances, pressures the other person was under, whether it was possible for you to have acted better). We have made a true judgement that they are in the wrong. We have genuinely tried to forgive in terms of “letting go of the hurt”. We have found freedom on our side, but if the other person rejects the truth of the situation, then reconciliation and new life is not possible – between the two of us. We do, I think, maintain our freedom, but we withhold our granting of freedom to them in terms of our relationship no longer being restrained by the harm they did us, because reconciliation is not possible with someone who is not sorry. The fact that they are not sorry does not impinge on our freedom to live in a state of not holding the offence against them. Yet our judgement against them remains.

How does this relate to the forgiveness that Christians seek from God?

Here, there is the crucial difference that we are sorry for our sins, and we are making some attempt at repentance. Therefore, reconciliation with God is possible. There is still the potentially troubling aspect that God’s judgement still stands. However, that can never be changed. Wrong actions cannot be undone, and so God’s righteous judgement against them is a true judgement that stands against us for all time. Yet we want to be free in the love of God; to have a relationship that is unsullied by our sins. This must therefore be compatible with being sinners.

Has God “written off” the offence? This is how I usually understand his forgiveness. He has the power and authority to write off the offence that I have done against him. He treats me as though nothing has ever come between us. This does seem, in fact, to be completely analogous with what we have done in terms of our attitude to those who wronged us. There was a weight of offence that we felt, but rather than hold onto that offence – and so continue to feel the pain of it – we laid it to one side, and so were set free from its power. If the person who hurt us in sorry, then reconciliation if possible. If they refuse, then we maintain the power and freedom not to be bothered by that; it is simply that our judgement against them remains. For us, in relation to God, our repentance allows the freedom that God is offering in terms of writing off the offence to be fully received by us as a gracious act of reconciliation and new life.