Do we believe in a forgiving God?

More thoughts based on Miroslav Volf’s book Free of Charge

Forgiveness is a special kind of gift. When we give, we seek the good of another, not our own good, yet we also benefit from the giving. When we forgive, we will also benefit as we release them from the burden of wrongdoing. It is more difficult to forgive than to give.

Forgiveness removes the anger and the blame and sets someone free but it cannot remove the guilt of the person’s wrongdoing. God is the God who forgives. We forgive because God forgives. We forgive as God forgives. Our forgiveness echoes God’s forgiveness.

If we see God as a negotiator then when it comes to forgiveness we will view him as a judge. If you break the deal then you pay. You may want to plead for mercy but if you’ve broken a promise then it’s your fault. There can be no mercy if we try to negotiate with God.

If we believe in a gift giving God who created the world out of love, we will hope for redemption and consummation – for the righting of everything that has gone wrong with the world at the end of time.

People are uneasy with a God who condemns, an acceptable God is one who leaves are wrongdoing alone and deals with our well being. A good God would be one who gives us all we need and affirms us and all our deeds. They have an alternative and also flawed idea of God. God as the doting Grandparent. This God would have a "Oh well, you didn't mean it, try and be nicer next time" attitude.

But the apostle Paul spoke about God’s wrath when it comes to sin. (see Rom 1:18-3:20). It’s difficult for us to think of God’s wrath. We think that if "God is Love" then that love must overcome wrath. But the fact is that because God loves all people he has to be wrathful against some of them. What God would not get angry when he sees millions of people killed in the gas chambers of Nazu Germany? What God would not get angry when he sees 800,000 people hacked to death in Rwanda? What God would not get angry when he sees 200,000 people killed in Yugoslavia?

A loving God has to get wrathful when it comes to these horrors. God isn’t wrathful in spite of being love but because God is love.

God forgives. But God’s forgiveness is not about saying something it’s about doing something. He gave himself, through Jesus, when he forgave the world.

God’s forgiveness is a gift. We cannot earn anything from God. God amazingly does not wait for us to confess our sins, God forgives before we confess. We are forgiven so we can be freed from the burden of our offence and return into the arms of the loving God.

How is God calling you to respond to his gift of forgiveness?