In thinking some more about forgiveness, and thinking much about Martinez's comment about forgiveness being more about the forgiver than the forgivee, I began to define the concept of forgiveness as "not keeping a record of wrongs." In searching the Bible, (yay blueletterbible) I found that for the times the word "forgiveness" is actually translated (not very many) it is related to a Greek word meaning "release or dismissal"--specifically, release from bondage.
I see forgiveness, when thought about in connection with justification and salvation, as meaning God does not hold my sin against me on the basis of Christ's death. He is not keeping a record of my wrongs and His Forgiveness is not letting my sin stand in the way of His Love for me. I think this is exemplified many times with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. He still disciplined them and punished them for their sins, but he also always forgave them. Trying to come to grips much further when thinking about the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land and the cycle of their sin, God's anger, discipline and yet still forgiveness-- offers much more difficulty--but again, His Ways are higher than my ways and His Thoughts are higher than my thoughts.
Posted by Anna at March 15, 2009 09:47 PM | TrackBack