Forgivenessಮಾದರಿ

Forgive and Forget? Really?

Those two "I" statements stand out, don’t they? Why was God so insistent that He alone does the forgiving? Theologian John Calvin wrote that God’s double "I" was a rebuke to the people of Israel who were toying with the belief that tradition and birthright could do what only God could do – reconcile with God.

Through Isaiah, God is reminding us that He alone has the power to forgive. We have no leverage, no case to compel forgiveness from God. Here’s the more astonishing part. His Pardon makes our crimes against God invisible to Himself. There’s no supernatural liquid paper covering up our error, to be retrieved at a later date. No divine digital fragments on God’s supernatural hard drive. There’s nothing. Gone.

Why does God forgive us so deliberately when we’re so undeserving? "… for my own sake." For too long in life, I’ve wrestled with my pathetic attempts to be good enough to warrant God’s Forgiveness. For too long, I’ve thought of God as a much better version of me – and there’s no way I’d forgive me. These few words turned my life upside down. God made me to be in relationship with Him. He forgives me so that I can be.

So powerful is our Father’s longing for us to be close to Him that He permanently altered the state of Heaven and sent His Son to be punished for our conceit and pride. He pursued us, even as we hid in our shame.

Today, let’s reject the notion that we can do anything to earn God’s Love. Permit God to do what only God can do. Forgive and forget.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES