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Forgiving One Another

Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:32)

To forgive as you have been forgiven is one of the foundational principles of the Gospel life.  If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven (Matt 6:15).  How can we who have been forgiven much not forgive what little our brethren have done to us (Matt 18:21-35)?

We are to forgive others as God forgave us.  How did God forgive us?

He forgave us completely.  No debt is left unpaid.  No sin is left unsatisfied.  The saving work of Christ requires no supplementation, from ourselves or from any other mediator.  As far as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us (Psalm 103:12).  

He forgave us freely.  Our salvation is a gift (Rom 3:24).  We have not earned it, deserved it, or warranted it in any way.  We are forgiven, in fact, despite ourselves.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:24).  

He forgives us, ultimately, in Christ.  We are forgiven completely and freely because we are forgiven in Christ.  The once-for-all substitutionary atonement offered by Jesus Christ, who is both priest and victim, perfectly satisfies the demands of our perfectly holy God.  God is just and the justifier of the ungodly (Rom 3:26).  When God looks at us, He sees Christ.  What is true of Christ is true of us.  United to Jesus Christ by faith, we receive all His benefits (Eph 1:3).   

So, we must forgive completely and freely because we have been forgiven in Christ.  We must not regard any sin against us to be unforgivable.  We must place no penance in the path to reconciliation.  Our standards for forgiveness must not exceed those our Father has for us.  

The forgiven must be the forgiving.

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (Mark 11:25)

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