Conditional Forgiveness (Part Two)

Continuing from the last post, Forgiveness, similarly, is unconditional from one perspective and conditional from another. It is unconditional in that we do nothing to merit the Lord’s pardon. We cannot earn forgiveness by our good works or righteous deeds, for as sinners we cannot obey perfectly to deserve God’s love. Moreover, we have incurred infinite wrath by sinning against an infinite being—God Himself—so only an infinite person—God the Son, who took on human flesh—can purchase our forgiveness. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 affirms, “you are not your own? For you were bought at a price.”  Because we cannot earn divine pardon, forgiveness is unconditional— receiving God’s forgiveness involves our recognizing that we have sinned, that we cannot merit absolution, and that we can appeal only to the Lord’s mercy.

Romans 3:21-25 “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,  even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness.”

Yet, that we must confess our sin and ask for mercy shows that God’s forgiveness is conditioned upon our repentance. 1 John 1:8-10 proclaims that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” We must ask for forgiveness even though we do not earn our pardon by repenting. God does not forgive us unilaterally; He requires repentance. We must recognize that we owe God everything and yet cannot pay. We must see that He owes us nothing but wrath, that our only hope is in His mercy by grace through faith. Those who approach the Lord in such a way, receiving His forgiveness, recognize that if God, the perfectly holy One, shows mercy to the unworthy, we who are imperfect and unholy must do the same. Jesus pronounced in Luke 6:37, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”  If we do not forgive those who ask for our forgiveness, we show that we have not really seen our own need of God’s forgiveness. And if we have not really seen our own need of God’s forgiveness, we have not truly asked the Lord to show us mercy.

Colossians 2:11-14 “In Him [Jesus Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

As always, God is most concerned with our hearts, and our forgiving hearts indicate that we have seen our sin and have truly cast ourselves on the Lord’s mercy. Amen