Imitating God’s Forgiveness – Part 3
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
How does God forgive? God forgives generously. One of the greatest statements in the Bible concerning God’s forgiveness occurs in Psalm 103:10-14. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” How far is the east from the west? It is infinitely far because the east can never meet the west. There is no limit to God’s forgiveness.
There is also no depth to God’s forgiveness. A great statement in Micah 7:18-19 asserts, “Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.” In Micah’s time, when something was cast into the depths of the sea, there was no retrieving it. God’s forgiveness knows no limits.
The Christian who possesses penitence of heart and who fears God has great consolation knowing that God’s desire and practice is not to deal with us after our sins, but to forgive. In Christ, forgiveness is actual and God refuses to memorialize our sins (Hebrews 10:16-18). 6. In Isaiah 43:25, God says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.” Let’s also be generous with our forgiveness.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley