Creating a Secure CHURCH
PART 4 : When Things Go Wrong
Chapter 17 : Thinking about Forgiveness
17.4 The Key to Biblical Forgiveness
Instead of seeing offence and forgiveness as an issue simply between two people, we need to see that it is between two people AND God. Where there is an unconfessed sin this is an open issue with God. It may not be something that affects our eternal destiny (although it can be) but unconfessed sin means you have an unresolved issue with God – sin is an offence against God! It is only resolved when you repent of it, and God doesn’t bring judgment then, because Jesus already took that punishment.
The Biblical teaching is that it is possible to unintentionally sin and obviously action can only be taken when you become aware of it (see for example Lev 4:13,14). Similarly Paul shows us (Rom 5:12 -14) that sin existed before the Law (knowledge of specific sins) but wasn’t counted against the sinner – yet the effects of sin did operate, i.e. people still died.
So, as we said above, forgiveness is a judicial pronouncement on behalf of heaven when there has been repentance. Before the repentance and after it, the important thing for us, the offended person, is that we get the grace of God to cope and to hold a non-hostile attitude towards our offended, wanting them to come through to the good with God and with you.
Hold on, you may be thinking, surely the end outcome is the same as if I’d simply said, “It’s all right I forgive you” even if they haven’t repented? No, you wouldn’t have been part of God’s process of bringing them to the good – they still have a casual attitude about their sin, because you let them off. God wants them to come into a proper place before Him where they acknowledge what they have done is wrong and repent of it. In that way they are reconciled to God AND they are less likely to repeat it, which again is one of God’s goals for them.
From your side of it all, the difficult thing, as we said before, is for you to hold a right attitude towards your offender
