γράψω

The other day, I heard a sermon about relational issues, and one of the issues addressed by the pastor was resentment and forgiveness. His approach to the idea of us forgiving others was very similar to approaches I have heard in the past – the basic idea is that we are to forgive as God has forgiven us (much like Paul writes in Col 3:13, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”).

Most people speak of a kind of forgiveness that doesn’t involve retribution, vengeance, or even an acknowledgment of wrong doing by the offending party. We are supposed to forgive whether or not the person “deserves” forgiveness and whether or not he or she is sorry. This, as most Christians would agree, is the way God forgives.

But for the first time, when I heard this message, I thought about the complexities involved with this approach. The question i my mind becomes: Does standard Christians theology really say that God forgives whether or not we deserve it and whether or not we are sorry? As far as I can recall, our theology says that anyone coming to God must acknowledge wrong doing (sin) before receiving forgiveness. It would seem that God requires confession and remorse over our sin before God will forgive. At least that’s what our theology states.

So how then do we understand this concept of forgiving as God forgives? I see two ways of looking at it, both of which are problematic to some degree (at least in the realm of orthodox Christian theology).

1. Since God requires the offending party to display some kind of knowledge of wrong doing accompanied by remorse before forgiveness is given, we too should require the same thing. If we are offended, we should withhold forgiveness until the wrong is made right or the guilty party shows remorse.

As soon as I begin to type it out, I see the problems with that line of reasoning. We’re human. We don’t get to deal out justice. That is for God. I get that. But how then are we showing forgiveness like God shows forgiveness? This leads to options 2:

2. God has forgiven all humanity of sin whether they deserve forgiveness or not, and whether they acknowledge wrong doing or not. This is the kind of forgiveness that God has modeled – an unconditional forgiveness – and, in the same way, we are to model this type of forgiveness. When we are hurt, we forgive, whether the offending person cares or not.

Options 2 seems to make a lot more sense in terms of the biblical narrative, our understanding of human nature, and the revelation of God through Jesus, among other things. But there are some problems. Are we OK with saying that all people are forgiven? Doesn’t that sound a little too Universalistic? Is that really a bad thing?

So which is it? 1 or 2? Or could it be both? How about neither?

John seems to think God forgives us when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9), and so does Peter (Acts 2:38). But at the same time, the writer of Hebrews seems to think there is nothing more needed for forgiveness other than the sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:18).

It’s a little tricky to use God’s model of forgiveness to guide our own. It either means the way we forgive must change, or it means the way we understand God’s forgiveness must change. Or maybe it means both. Or neither. Or maybe I’m just missing something here.