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Towards Forgiveness

To err is human, to forgive...

we are told, is divine. And it is. God forgives, and on a lavish scale. Moved by his love and grace, forgiving is close to God’s heart. Not that this means he finds forgiving easy. God is holy, good and just. He hates wrongdoing. He is opposed to all evil and not in the least indifferent to it. He feels deeply betrayed by our sin. He is like a husband, jealous and angry, when he sees us unfaithful to him. In seeking to forgive us, he had to find a way to deal with his deep anger and moral outrage provoked by our sin. He had to confront his justice. For him the cost of forgiving was the cross; a painful denial of self. Yet, had God not accepted that cost in the pursuit of forgiveness, there would have been no hope for us today.

Forgiveness is divine. God is never more God-like (majestic and worthy of full worship) than when he forgives. However, here lies the rub: we are God’s children, his sons; we are called to be like him. We too should be God-like (Lk 6:36). We too must forgive; forgive as God in Christ forgave us. We must image (not merely imagine) this forgiving love (Eph 4:32-5:2). Indeed, the future is only bearable if we learn to forgive.

Tragically, many people are casualties of the cost of refusing to forgive.

Psychologically, the cost is high. Consuming anger, excoriating bitterness, debilitating depression in many lives can be traced to a heart hardened against forgiveness. That mother who abandoned, friend who betrayed, husband who deserted and destroyed in the past is still destroying today because we will not forgive.

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About John

Hi there - I am a member of Greenview and have been for over 20 years. For a number of these years I functioned as an elder, however, indifferent health forced me to take more of a back seat. I see this as an opportunity to do a little writing, often focussing on issues that are a matter of evangelical debate today. Naturally the views expressed are my own and may not reflect the views of the elders or church at large, though differences are likely to be in the detail and not the substance.

These articles and sermons were written partly to clarify my own thoughts and partly with the intention of provoking thought in others who may read them. If you read one I hope you find it stimulating. Please feel free to give me feedback or discuss my articles in the forums.

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