When He Is Come
And He, when He is come, He will convict the world in respect of sin . . . John 16:8 (rv)
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things; but conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only—“Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.” When a man is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every power of his conscience that God dare not forgive him; if God did forgive him, the man would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the rending of His heart in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the Divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. When we have been convicted of sin we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less; the love of God is spelt on the Cross and nowhere else. The only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of my Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness means not merely that I am saved from hell and made right for heaven (no man would accept forgiveness on such a level); forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a recreated relationship, into identification with God in Christ. The miracle of Redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One, by putting into me a new disposition, the disposition of Jesus Christ.
Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (pp. 240-241). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
This past Sunday's small group lesson was on forgiveness. We discussed a variety of things. Why is it hard to forgive? How does our unwillingness to forgive affect us? Stories were shared, opinions offered, verses were quoted. It was a good lesson, but until reading today's excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest I hadn't thought about what it costs us to forgive. Nothing. Not a nickle. No financial sacrifice. No physical pain. For us to forgive, while difficult at times, is a matter of the mind, heart, and spirit.
Contrast that to what it cost God to forgive us--the life of His Son. God sacrificed His "one and only son" "while we were yet sinners" as an offering for our forgiveness.
It cost Jesus Christ his life, offered up freely to an incredibly painful, humiliating, wholly undeserved death on the cross to gift us with a wholly undeserved forgiveness.
Our forgiveness was purchased with the blood of a spotless, perfect Savior. Literal, physical blood. Nothing figurative about the pain and suffering Christ endured so we could be forgiven. The lashes He received were real. The pieces of flesh and muscle torn from his back as he was flogged were not part of some fable. His cuts, his wounds, his incredible pain were all designed for one reason--our forgiveness.
Yet we hesitate to forgive a coworker for an unkind word. We resist forgiving an ex-spouse for treating us poorly. It requires no lashes. No crown of thorns. No nails through our hands and feet. In fact, we benefit both physically and spiritually when we forgive. How dare we not follow Christ's example in forgiveness. He gave his life for our forgiveness- literally, his physical life! Can we not sacrifice our pride, our sense of entitlement, our sense of righteousness to forgive?
Forgiveness may not be easy. Hurts run deep. But if God requires, God enables. Let's follow Christ's example by forgiving others as He has forgiven us.
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