Forgiveness

“If we confess our sins,” writes John (1 John 1.9), “God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

But do we need to confess our sins – be repentant – before God will forgive us? Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6.12) The precondition to God forgiving us is not that we confess our sins but that we forgive others. Jesus emphasises this point in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18.23-35), where the King cancels a servant’s debt simply because the servant has no way of paying it back. But then the servant goes out and refuses to cancel a miniscule debt that a fellow servant owes him – and as a result the King un-cancels the debt the first servant owes to him, and throws him into prison. Confession and repentance aren’t even mentioned in the parable.

Jesus went about forgiving sin – whether or not the sinner repented. For example the man who was let down through a hole in the roof (Mark 2.1-12). The first thing Jesus did was forgive his sin. The man had not even been given an opportunity to confess his sin.

Another example: the parable of the lost son. The Father didn’t even give his son an opportunity to make his penitent speech – it didn’t matter to him (Luke 15.21-22). He was forgiven, whether or not he was penitent.

And then there’s Jesus’ own prayer: “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23.34) Did God answer this prayer? Those who hammered the nails into his wrists didn’t repent. The Jewish leaders who condemned him to death had no desire to “confess their sins”. But Jesus forgave them.

If God just forgives everyone whether they ask for it or not, whether they want it or not, we have universalism: everyone will wind up in heaven. But it’s unlikely that people would be forced into heaven who have no desire to be there. On the other hand (as Dallas Willard writes) God is unlikely to turn away from heaven anyone who would sincerely like to be there. Heaven is a place of grace, of forgiveness. Those who prefer ungrace, unforgiveness would not feel at home there. Perhaps that’s the general principle of who winds up in heaven – like the parable of the unforgiving servant: those who choose unforgiveness wind up in the place of unforgiveness while those who choose forgiveness wind up in the place of grace and forgiveness. By choosing forgiveness I am choosing to forgive those who sin against me. By choosing unforgiveness I am choosing to not forgive those who sin against me.

Fire: the character of God

God forgives sin because of who God is. His character. See Exodus 34.6-7: "Yahweh, Yahweh, a God compassionate and merciful, long-suffering, ever faithful and true, remaining faithful to thousands of generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin but without acquitting the guilty, one who punishes children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the iniquity of their fathers!" Note in passing that forgiveness lasts for thousands of generations but punishment for only three or four. Maximum.

Dallas Willard says, “I am thoroughly convinced that God will let everyone into heaven who, in his considered opinion, can stand it.” And continues: “But ‘standing it’ may prove to be a more difficult matter… The fires in heaven may be hotter than those in the other place.” (The Divine Conspiracy, p330) Which means that a) Steve Chalke may be write when he says that the only thing that keeps us out of heaven is our own refusal to respond to God (or something like that); and b) my own "our God is a consuming fire" thesis may not be too far wrong after all.

Our God is a consuming fire is a book I have drafted bits of but never got round to working on properly. Its argument is that "hell" (Dallas's “the other place”) is not separate from God himself. If there are fires in heaven (which is rather likely since our God is a consuming fire) what need is there of another place (hell) with fire in it? What we know as "hell" is the flip-side of God. God is a consuming fire. Get on the wrong side of him, and his fire will consume you (consume, NOT torment endlessly); get on the right side of God and his fires will complete the refining process that he is already doing in you.

God forgives sin. He does that because it is ingrained in his character. Jesus’ death is the means by which he forgives sins but not the reason why he forgives sin. And so on that basis everyone, anyone is welcome into heaven. “If you can stand it.” Or it may be that the fires of heaven are too hot and our God who is a consuming fire will consume you. It seems likely that if I have got used to living in the light, looking to the light, moving closer to the source of the light, that I will survive the fires of heaven. For fire gives light. Light gives heat. The two cannot be separated. More than that, the Light is the Centre of my being. I love the Light. The Light shines in me and through me. And so when I approach the Light, the Fire in heaven, it will be a coming home.

Michael

The enigma of freedom

Freedom is an enigma. I’ve been speaking to others of my desire, calling even, to set others free. I recognise from the vision that I cannot do that unless I am free myself. I believe I can be and am already involved in setting others free. Since I have that focus in my own life it will inevitably spill out. But I’m not free in worship. At least, not in the environment of my Lahti fellowship. Others laugh, shout, wave banners, dance – actually, make fools of themselves in the Lord – but I do no more than raise my hands, clap, sing in tongues… Is it the environment that is holding me back? Is it that I don’t feel at home there? It’s true that I don’t really feel at home there. If I never went back again, there are no relationships that I would miss, and so there is no bond between me and them. In contrast perhaps, when it comes to worship with my work colleagues I do feel freer, within the boundaries of what is expected there. In Lahti I am one of the most conservative worshippers; when worshipping at work I am one of the most open. Because I feel at home in that environment. Because there is love (given and received). And I believe because I am able to use my gifts. In Lahti I am just pew fodder. Everywhere else I am able to help lead in some way.

But it’s as though I’ve woken up. But I have this earnest (passionate) desire to go out and make a difference. To cut the talking (we’ve done far too much of that as it is) and do something. Hence the strong focus and push on mentoring, growth plans, empowering, motivating – to get the desire and ability to make a difference out to the whole Group.

The battle with sin of course remains. I wonder whether following Dallas Willard’s curriculum for Christlikeness will make a difference? (http://www.dwillard.org/books/DivConsp.asp) It should, I guess, since what is being addressed is a transformation of the heart. And a change of heart is what is needed. Rules and regulations won’t make any difference. There’s always a way around them. It’s the heart that needs to be addressed, so that there will be no desire to search for a way around the rules and regulations, and so there will be no need for the rules and regulations themselves.

Michael

PS: Now I've worked out how to do hyperlinks (quite easy really)... Here's where you can get "Awake me": http://direct.crossrhythms.co.uk/cd.php?cd=7198. Go for it!