And be not judging, and under no circumstances may you be convicting, and under no circumstances may you be convicted, be releasing, and you shall be released.
Luke 6: 37, Concordant New Testament
I recall it being mentioned by one radio pastor or another that we should fear the unforgiveness of God. This brought me to the question, when does God not forgive His children? We see throughout New Testament scripture that forgiveness is a genuine part of Gods plan for us. However, we also see in the Oldest of Testaments those instances where it appears that the Lord did not forgive. Did God forgive the sins of those lost in the flood? We know from scripture that the behavior of man grieved the Lord {Genesis 6:6}. I feel that little has changed in this regard. In spite of the fact that Christ Jesus has put sin to death, I do believe that there are times when our behaviors grieve the Lord. It grieves Him because He has so much better for us. Instead of a life dwelling in the suffering of perceived sin (Remember, Jesus defeated sin at the cross), God desires for His children to live one with He and His Son. It would appear, then, that forgiveness is in Gods very nature. So why is it that we should ever be in fear of the unforgiveness of God? Does unforgiveness even exist in Gods reality? Let's ask that very same question of Christ Jesus. When Jesus died on that cross, did He somehow cherry pick who would be forgiven and who wouldn't? If He somehow did, would that show the love and mercy of the Father? Can anyone see where this discussion is going? If God has graced His children with His forgiveness, why is it that we need to fear the unforgiveness of God? I have a better question, why in the world would a pastor ever proclaim that God would not forgive His child? Is this simply something we have overlooked about God, or a claim we ourselves have made against Him in our courts of religious law?
In whom we are having the deliverance through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the riches of His grace.
Ephesians 1: 7, Concordant New Testament
Some time ago I was introduced to the scripture which, in my opinion, describes our heavenly Fathers nature perfectly. We find this passage in 1 John 4: 8. It is here where the apostle John describes our Lords nature as...love. That's it, God is love. If we learn anything about the Father, let it be this. God is not a watchful overseer simply waiting for you to screw up that He can take away His forgiveness which He gifted to you from the beginning. This would make God a Indian giver, and He is nothing like that at all. We know that the Lords desire is to see all of His children one with Him and Jesus {John 3:16-17, John 17:21}. So, why is it that we need to fear the unforgiveness of One whose very nature is to forgive? I fear we have created for ourselves a negative narrative when it comes to God. I don't believe that it is God who has spoken that we are to fear His unforgiveness. Rather, it is Jesus who invites us to find rest in Him {Matthew 11:29-30}. Who wants to find rest in One who MIGHT save them? Yet, in our courts of religious law we continue to speak the narrative that the love, forgiveness and grace of our heavenly Father is strictly performance based. If we are good enough. If we tithe enough. If we behave. Then we can be assured that forgiveness is ours. Unless, of course, we do something to lose it. The truth is that the gift of our Lord is simply that, a gift. His love and grace have never been based on what we can do for Him {Ephesians 2:8-9}. Imagine the pride of the man who somehow pleased God enough to earn his own salvation. It is through one man whom we have our forgiveness. The man Christ Jesus.
~Scott~
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