Forgiveness Part 1

Have you ever had to forgive someone?  Have you ever been in a position where you were wronged, hurt or so blatantly sinned against and been told by others to forgive?

There is a lot of misunderstanding around the topic of forgiveness.  As believers, we often pile together the things we have heard and sometimes forget to go back to Truth to get a proper understanding. Even significant things like forgiveness.

Scripture is meant to be used as a whole. We are never to take one verse, or one idea and build a theology around it, yet this happens all the time. It is a dangerous use of the word of God and we need to guard against it. Instead, we study the entire scripture to get a thorough understanding.

I fear we have an incomplete, incorrect understanding of forgiveness. 

Mark 6:5 says "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  So we work hard to forgive no matter what and yet something doesn't sit right in our souls. 

When you have been grievously sinned against, something inside of you cries "NO!" 

To forgive when there has been no recognition of wrong, no restitution or reconciliation diminishes the wrong you have experienced. It makes little of sin, and God never does that.

In Luke 17:3-4 we are called to forgive as God forgave us.  So we now have these two verses about forgiveness. What do we do?? This last one is echoed in Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians 4:32.

How did God forgive us?

Sin separates us from God. We don't like that, it feels offensive. Yet we are comfortable with the concept of sin when someone has wronged us. Human nature, don't you love it??

Over and over we see God patiently explaining what wrongs have been committed against him. He gently spells out for his people the way back. Stubborn as they are, they rarely take it.

Before we can forgive others as God forgave us, we need to understand how God forgives. The whole Bible is full of examples of how God has dealt with people when sin has come between.  I cannot form my Theology of Forgiveness from just the New Testament or the verses I find most significant. I need to search the whole Scripture.

Right away in Genesis, we are given our first example:

Old Testament: Under The Law, before Jesus

Adam and Eve

The relationship is broken by sin.

Eve had been tricked by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave some to the Adam who was with her. That expectation was articulated clearly in Gen. 2:16-17

Genesis 3:8

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Recognition of Sin and Confession:

Genesis 3:11-13

And he (God) said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So here we are. They had freely walked and talked with God and now they hide from Him. The relationship is broken.

Because this is the first act of sin, God does the work to show them what is required

Repentance and Forgiveness:

Hebrews 9:22 tells us that the shedding of blood is required for the remission of sin. This is supported by the Bible in the Offerings and Sacrifices required from the Jewish people and it is echoed in Psalms 51:7.

That blood has to be shed for forgiveness to happen tells us how seriously God takes sin.

Genesis 3:21

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. (NASV)

In making garments of skin, the first blood was shed as a requirement for covering sin. The fact that God does this is a foreshadowing of his plan to send Jesus. The debt was Adam and Eve's and God took care of it. The debt is ours and yet God took care of it by having Jesus pay it. 

Restitution:

Revealed in the next chapter. God has instituted Offerings as restitution. Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel live under The Law which now required offerings. Living in obedience rather than in disobedience is contrasted in their offerings and responses (Genesis 4).

Genesis 3:23

The Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

No longer did they enjoy the produce provided, they are now required to work the ground, bear children in pain.

Forgiveness & Reconciliation:

Genesis 3-4

We see Adam and Eve are driven from the garden, they no longer walk and talk freely with God. His presence withdrawn by the sin that has now entered. Relationship is maintained through the introduction of Offerings.

In chapter four Cain and Able demonstrate the difference between repentance and rebellion.

Forgiveness does not mean there is no consequence, they are driven from the Garden of Eden. Reconciliation does not mean there are now no boundaries. God no longer walks and talks with them face to face. God takes sin seriously. There is a change in the nature of their relationship.

Sin is what separates us from God and what hurts and separates us from one another.

The steps God requires for us are

1. Recognition of Sin and Confession
2. Repentance- turning from sin
3. Restitution when it can be made
4. Forgiveness
5. Reconciliation

The goal is alway to recover the relationship through reconciliation.

This is one of many of the Old Testament examples. There are many throughout in which you can see this pattern.

As we study this it becomes clear why, maybe, it is not so easy as just forgive and forget. Move on! Because the seriousness of sin requires more than that. Forgiveness isn't cheep.

Part 2 Next week