There are two uses of the word “forgiveness” in the Bible. First and foremost is God’s forgiveness of human sin. Our sins offend God and therefore only he can forgive them. The second usage is our need to forgive one another. Today’s column will consider God forgiving us. In coming weeks, we will consider how to forgive others. In order to understand God’s forgiveness we must first understand God’s character. When Moses asked God to show his glory, God hid him behind a rock and then passed in front of him proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he will not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7) What an amazing statement! This statement became a creed in the Old Testament, repeated almost word-forword several times. In his statement to Moses, God described himself using seven attributes: compassion, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, faithfulness, forgiveness, and punishing the guilty. The list tells how he relates to people. There are two sides to how he relates to us: there is good news and there is a warning. To understand God’s forgiveness, we need to understand both sides.
First, the good news: God is compassionate, loving, and forgiving. His love lasts for thousands of generations— in other words, it is unending. This endless love was contrasted with his anger toward sin which lasts for three or four generations. God’s love is much greater than his anger! Because love is God’s nature, we don’t have to earn his love. He already loves us. Therefore, he is already ready to forgive us.
How forgiving is he? To answer that question God gave a second list, one describing us: wickedness, rebellion, and sin—not a good list! We are sinners. Fortunately for us, our God is a forgiving God! And he doesn’t just forgive the small stuff, he forgives the worst acts: wickedness and rebellion, that we—that I—may commit. God also revealed his schedule for forgiving sins: he is slow to anger. In the Old Testament prophets we read that God repeatedly warned his people to stop sinning or face consequences. God could have acted quickly to condemn them, but his anger rose slowly, giving them time to turn from their sins. Perhaps when we sin, we may wonder why God doesn’t punish us immediately—if I were the judge of mankind, I think I would rush to judgment— but God shows us patience. He is slow to anger. But slow-anger doesn’t mean no-anger. We still face consequences for what we do.
God told Moses that he does not leave the guilty unpunished. That is the warning side of God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness does not remove the consequences of sin. We read in the Old Testament that God’s warnings of consequences, while delivered slowly, eventually came to pass. If people didn’t turn from their sins, they were punished. The consequences were often harsh: crop failures, enemy attacks, even being taken into exile. Their sins had consequences. Sin still does. God may use the consequences not just to punish us but to sanctify us as well: to teach us not to sin.
Those consequences aren’t limited to the person who sins. God told Moses that sin effects the members of one’s family to the third and fourth generations. However, elsewhere the Bible says that children will not be punished for the sins of their parents (Ezekiel 18:19-21). Each person is responsible for their own behavior—good or bad. Children will not be punished for the misdeeds of their parents, but they are influenced by those deeds. Sin has ripple effects. My children who live in my house (or in Bible times, live in my tent) see my behavior, both good and bad. They learn from my example and may copy me. Children and grandchildren will often repeat the patterns of behaving they have seen in their parents. We should all be good examples so that others aren’t led astray!
To understand God’s forgiveness we need to recognize both sides of his character. He is a God of love and he is also a God of justice. We may wonder how these two sides fit together. On the one hand, his love is much greater than his anger: a thousand times greater! That is very good news. But this does not mean we will not face consequences for any wrongs we do.
The ultimate answer to how God’s love fits with his justice was found at the cross. When God sent his sinless Son to take the punishment for our sins, his love and his justice were both satisfied. On the cross Jesus died for the sins of all mankind, from Adam and Eve until us, our children and grandchildren—and everyone else. When Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they do,” Jesus appealed to the forgiving side of God’s nature. The cross is how God can forgive sins.
The big picture is that God’s love led to sending his Son, which led to the cross, which brought forgiveness, which makes possible our salvation. Hallelujah.
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.