Forgiveness - God's Forgiveness

Let us go to Calvary to learn how we may be forgiven. And then let us linger there to learn how to forgive. 

Charles Spurgeon

   On our own we have nothing worthy of His forgiveness. Jesus doesn’t look at us and decide whether we are good enough to merit His forgiveness. He knows we’re not. His forgiveness is unconditional and based in His eternal love for mankind. If there were something we could do to merit His forgiveness, then God’s forgiveness would not be based on grace. It would be founded in performance…I am forgiven by God because of His Son’s love and death at Calvary…His death is sufficient payment for my transgressions and I now stand accepted and loved by God…The way we receive God’s eternal forgiveness is by acknowledging our sinfulness and asking Jesus Christ to come into our lives and cleanse us from all transgressions (Romans 6:23).

   Jesus came into this world as a man to die upon the Cross, and bear the penalty of our sin. All of our sinfulness was placed on Him at Calvary’s cross. God in His mercy accepts the atoning death of His Son as payment for our sins-past, present, and future. We are justified (proclaimed not guilty) in the eyes of God because Jesus died in our place. Therefore, we are set free from sin’s power. We are liberated to be all that God has planned for us to be. And we can now enjoy His fellowship through the presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives…

   Forgiveness, in God’s eyes, is the act of setting someone free from an obligation that resulted in a wrong done against another person.

Forgiveness is something all of us will have to deal with at one point in life or the other. We each will face varying degrees of injustices. Some will be easy to overlook; others take time. Regardless, the process of forgiveness cannot be overlooked.

   If we want to become what God has created us to be, forgiveness needs to be a part of our lifestyle. When we refuse to forgive, our relationship with God suffers. ...The first step to forgiveness and freedom is realizing that you are forgiven by God. When God looks at you, He sees the testimony of His Son declaring you not guilty.

   …Ask God now to make His forgiveness and unconditional love toward you very real. Then you are ready to take a step forward into a life that is unshackled and free-a life of praise and glory to God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spiritual Foundations Series Freedom Through Forgiveness by Dr. Charles Stanley