Monday 3 May 2021

Divine forgiveness (2)

“If you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you for your sins.” Matthew 6:15

Paul was present and an accomplice to the killers on the day Stephen was murdered. God forgave him for this crime, just as He forgave David for the murder of Bathsheba's husband. Many men and women have asked God for forgiveness for the horrible sins they had committed and sought His forgiveness. The prophet Micah writes : “He will still have compassion on us, he will trample on our sins. You will cast all their sins to the bottom of the sea” (Micah 7. 19). Not even Satan can go and fish them out. The deep sea pits are almost inaccessible. God is able to forgive the worst sins or crimes that we can commit. The crucial question that follows : are you able to forgive these same sins and crimes ? Or a variation : Would you be comfortable sitting at the same table as Kang Kek lew or other repentant criminals saved by divine grace ? You know the song “Amazing Grace”, written by John Newton. Would you be happy to meet a man who for many years benefited from the transport of slaves to the Caribbean, with heavy losses on each crossing ? If your wife, son or daughter, or best friend had been tortured or executed by the Khmer Rouge leader, could you forgive him ? Remember that the Bible does not excuse crime. And forgiving doesn't justify it either. Forgiveness is never an emotion, but a conscious choice. On the other hand, refusing to forgive locks you into a world of anger and bitterness. Take the example of Corrie ten Boone who, the day she met a former guard at the concentration camp where her sister had perished, after an internal debate, chose to forgive the former repentant torturer, who had become her brother in Christ.

Source (His Word for Today)