Forgiveness is NOT about avoiding "punishment".
Forgiveness is all about rebuilding relationship.
When I break God's law, I can seek His forgiveness and with Him, the eternal slate is wiped clean because of Jesus. It is Jesus who bore God's wrath and took my punishment for me, and God has promised to remember my sins no more.
But, all too often, this can lead us to think forgiveness should wipe away ALL consequences as well. We then make the mistake of believing that God is punishing us for our sins, when we are merely reaping the fruit we have sown.
There is always damage from transgression. If I do something to violate another person's trust, I can repent and seek forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the first step in rebuilding the relationship with that person, but it will take time to regain trust and see full restoration.
In addition to trust, I will still have to face all the temporal consequences of my actions.
If I have broken man's law, then I will still have to face man's judgment system.
If I have abused and not taken care of my body, then I will have to deal with the possibility of disease and/or disability.
If I have sinned against another person, then I may never regain the same level of relationship I had.
If my sin has caused death, then I, and others, will have to deal with the loss.
Follow up from Getting What You Deserve
Monday, December 04, 2006
Forgiveness
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The question that remains is "what did Jesus redeem us from?"
I'm reminded of the woman in John 8 who was caught in adultery and yet Jesus 'saved' her from her rightful punishment from the religious leaders who had trapped her.
What we have to always bear in mind is that God will always come to the aid of the righteous. It is true that one cannot expect mercy from men but one can surely rest in the hand of God. Like David of old said, it is better to fall in the hands of the living God than in the hands of men. And though we may not be able to avoid self-imposed trials that come our way, I firmly believe that when God made me more than a conqueror, then I became a partaker of of the rewards that Jesus paid for.
God sees me as a son in the family business and when I am walking hand in hand with Him, He will take to task anyone who comes against me with things that I have done in the past. He will take them to task by providing me with everything I need to reach out in love to them and win them over to His love and mercy and grace. He will not allow them to wedge anything between Him and I when I refuse to let go of the blood Jesus.
So I can live not being surprised when bad fruit comes up from bad seeds I've sown, but I can speak to mountains and watch God move them because I am on His mission and in His hands. If man's plan prevails in the short term, it is because God's plan will prevail in the long. I can refuse to live in the shadow of forgiven sin because it was expunged when Jesus died and I died with Him.
If that child molester gives his life to Jesus, is there any reason to think that God does not still have a plan for that man's life? Is there still not a mission that God has laid out for him to accomplish by the power of God? If that plan does not include sitting in prison for 15 years, then I can rest assured that God is justified in getting the man out. The justice of man cannot frustrate the grace of God when He finds someone who will not let go of Him.
That said, I still think it would be merciful at this point to dispose of the sicko that was mentioned in the original post. I owe that man nothing but to love him and if I don't pray for him then I make myself a hypocrite, but there's still something in me that would rather be a hypocrite that see that man walking freely down the street unchanged. Only Jesus can free a man to walk after God - thank God He made a way or we'd all be in that man's shoes running blindly toward our own just reward.
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