Forgiveness

When you read devotionals pertaining to marriage, some of you may feel like I am rubbing salt in your wounds. That’s certainly not my intent, and for those who have been divorced, I know the pain is deep. And I know many of you tried so hard to keep your marriage together. You can’t undo the past. You desire to make your life count for God. Thank God he offers forgiveness and restoration to us all.

Have you ever caught a fox? Neither have I. But I am assuming that chasing and catching a fox would be quite a feat. Solomon uses this picture of catching foxes to remind us of little things that can do considerable damage.

The apostle Peter had a question about forgiveness. When he asked Jesus how many times a person should be forgiven, Jesus told the story of a king who wanted to settle his accounts.

The great author C.S. Lewis says that everybody loves the idea of forgiveness ...until they have to forgive someone, that’s true, isn’t it? Forgiveness is a tremendous spiritual truth! What could be better?

Our Sin-Bearer paid the penalty for every morsel of juicy gossip, every white lie, every murder, and every despicable action of man. And when we trust in Jesus’ death as our own, he throws our sin into the depth of the sea. He puts it behind his back. The God with perfect memory chooses to remember our sin no more. Forgiveness is love in action! 

Though Jesus had no need to repent and be cleansed from sin, his baptism was the first act that identified him with humanity’s sin and becoming our substitute. His work on the cross would bring us peace. 

Jesus is our great Hope. That is the Christmas story in a nutshell. In Jesus, we have significance, security, acceptance, and forgiveness. In Jesus, we are empowered by his Spirit to show the world how the glory of the Lord shines through our lives. 

The new covenant came with a great price. God didn’t ignore sin or sweep it under the rug. He met sin head-on by sending his Son as our substitute to pay sin’s penalty (Isaiah 53:4-6). Jesus said that the new covenant would be instituted through the shedding of his blood on the cross (Matt. 26:27-28; Luke 22:20). In Jesus, there is forgiveness. He is our great Hope!

But the “eyes of the Lord are in every place” (Prov. 15:3). He does not distinguish between “on stage” or “backstage.” He puts our hearts on his scale to reveal if our pretending outweighs our commitment to him. When we turn our hearts wholly to him, the playacting is over.