The No-Nonsense Forgiveness Of God

The No-Nonsense Forgiveness of God

Oct 17, 2014 3139

Back in Jesus’s day, there was an established framework of how forgiveness was done. If you wanted your sins to be forgiven, you needed to be at the right place (the temple), in front of the right person (the priest), holding the right thing (an offering), and doing the right actions (a sacrifice), and saying the right words (whatever the ritual words were).

We still have frameworks that we have about how we should seek forgiveness. They are frameworks determined by our society, our churches, and even the people whom we have offended (i.e. when they say to you, “I will not forgive you unless you…”)

Jesus did a lot of things that upset a lot of people. And one of the most shocking things that he did is how he played loose and free with forgiveness, dispensing it like confetti wherever he went. Why? Because Jesus knew the heart. He broke down barriers between people and God – he totally smashed them – and by doing that, he brought down the fury of the religious leaders of the day (and all “right-thinking” people who supported them) upon himself.

Jesus was preaching in a house one day, and some men broke open the roof to lower down a paralyzed man to where Jesus was. Jesus took one look at him and said, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” The senior religious people there were shocked at horrified.

This guy hadn’t even asked to be forgiven! How could Jesus just simply forgive like that? Forgiveness was difficult. You had to follow the proper process. It had to be earned!

And so Jesus asked them a really good question,

“Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt 9:5–6).

Both are just as easy to say as each other, aren’t they? It is doing them that is the hard bit. And while you can see a paralysed man jumping for joy in front you, you cannot actually see forgiven sins. So Jesus said to the man,

“Get up, take up your mat, and go home” (v.6).

And in that one action, they understood that Jesus was having nothing of their nonsense about forgiveness. They understood that he totally claimed to have all authority on earth to forgive sin.

I am inviting you to experience the radical forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. Even if it has been denied to you through your church, or your family, or your friends, or your partner. Even if they have hurt you so bad that you have no-one else to turn to…. if you turn to Jesus, he will unconditionally, unreservedly, and joyfully forgive you. He takes no nonsense from anyone – he just forgives those who come to him. Christ has never turned away anyone who came to him in need.

Eliezer

Kayumba David

Oct 17, 2014

Poweful article. God loves and forgives radically so much so that he can easily accused of being an extremist savior. Thank you so much for this article.

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