"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
Have you thought about forgiveness lately? I mean have you really considered what all is involved in forgiving someone? In this verse from Ephesians, Paul is using the Greek word for forgiveness which means "dismissal, release, remission of sins." It means complete removal of the cause of the offense and the penalty.
According to our justice system when an offense occurs, there is a resulting penalty to be paid. The penalty of our sin has been paid through the price of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. There are certain conditions to receiving the promised forgiveness of Jesus Christ. These conditions are repentance and confession. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus tells us to forgive "seventy times seven." In other words, forgive over and over, just as He does. Our Ephesians verse tells us His grace is based on "riches", in other words, it is unlimited.
Have you ever noticed how much forgiveness can hurt? Consider this quote from Edwin Orr, "When you are forgiven, someone must pay, and the one who forgives is the one who suffers." The one who is forgiven is released of the guilt of the sin that has been committed. Our forgiveness of someone takes a little of our pride, the forgiveness that Jesus offered took His life.
My prayer is that I never take the forgiveness of Jesus Christ lightly, because it took His life for me to have it.
Back to our home page!
P.S. On Sept. 16, I incorrectly gave a reference as Psalm 105:45,
when it should have been, 1 Chronicles 16:11-12. Both are verses from King
David and I recorded the wrong reference. Forgive me, please?