FORGIVENESS

When Jesus Christ said to “forgive them for they know not what they do.” From the cross, was He asking the Father to excuse all those who ordered and willingly participated in this heinous act?

Was He asking the Father to just “write it off” because they didn’t know Who He really was?

No.  God cannot “write off” any sin….one out of ignorance or otherwise.

 As Allistair Begg describes it:

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“Jesus was about to give His life expressly to pay the price for sin and to open the gateway into heaven. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” God did not choose to ignore sin, to overlook it altogether. He did not count men’s sins against them because HE WAS COUNTING THEIR SINS AGAINST HIM—namely, Jesus. God does not overlook injustice even as He offers forgiveness. Nor does He call us to do so.

So as Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father, asking that those involved in this atrocity—including those who stood by idly and watched—would be forgiven, He was praying that they would see their need of a Savior, would see that He is that Savior, and would turn from their sin and discover that their transgressions could be fully pardoned. In other words, Jesus asked that the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:21—that God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”—might take hold of their hearts and lives.”

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In other words, He put their sins on Jesus.  That’s why He told us, in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  This was always a little murky statement in view of security of salvation. But…..

If we call ourselves saved, then our sins rest on Jesus and not us.   If, in turn, we hold a grudge against someone else, and let their sins rest on themselves, knowing that an eternity or torture awaits them,  we cannot call ourselves true Christians.   We must forgive…..do as Jesus did, and ask the Father to roll their sins on Jesus, where ours are.   For that, we must pray for that person to receive that forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and be reconciled to him (with all that is on our part to do)  so that we can lovingly tell him about salvation through Christ, if possible,  along with our prayers for his salvation.   

Most of the time, it’s very difficult to muster up this ability within ourselves, but with prayer and submission to the will of God, we will obtain the grace needed to have that desire for their salvation, and guidance as to how to handle it.

This explains why Jesus could say that we won’t be forgiven if we don’t forgive.  Our own salvation comes into scrutiny, and, indeed, if we don’t seek to obey Christ with His own generous grace, are we actually His servants?  Are we truly saved? 

So now that statement that Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15 , takes on a whole new, deeper meaning.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

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