The Transforming Grace of Forgiveness

Forgiveness and Christianity go hand in hand. To be Christian is to be forgiven and in turn to be Christian is to forgive others. But life can get messy as we deal with a variety of situations. Thankfully God grants to us forgiveness on account of Jesus. Even though we do not deserve it, He gives it anyway. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Forgiveness comes to us as a gift from Jesus. Thanks be to God who forgives us such a huge debt of sin (Matthew 18:23-27)! 

Having been forgiven, God now calls us forgiven Christians to go and forgive others just as He has done for us. Consider Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” But life gets messy. We live in a world where we and others don’t like to admit wrongdoing and where we do not always forgive. Sometimes we like to keep score and hold the wrongs of someone against them. At times people may be sorry and ask for forgiveness and at other times they don’t. Sometimes it may be easy to forgive and other times it can be difficult. On occasions we may think that a person does not deserve our forgiveness; the sin is to great or they are not sorry enough. We may act as if someone needs to earn our forgiveness and meet our demands. But forgiveness as God teaches it in the Bible is vastly different than what we may experience in our world. 

Life gets messy. We live in a world that is deeply divided and displays resentfulness, bitterness, rage and anger, and the desire for vengeance. We live in a world where many people practice unforgiveness. We live in a world where we have many opportunities to forgive. By God’s grace as the Holy Spirit works through His Word, may God transform our lives and the lives of many people around us with the grace of forgiveness. It is a big part of being a Christian. I look forward to seeing you there. 

- Pastor Schoenfeld