When Hope Feels Like a Fool's Errand
"Biblical forgiveness is not primarily a feeling. Rather, it is something that happens between two parties," Brauns writes in Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds. "Biblical forgiveness is conditioned on repentance and results in the elimination of guilt. God only forgives those who repent. While some consequences may remain, it would contradict biblical meaning to insist that God forgives everyone unconditionally or that someone forgiven could still go to hell. Still, while actual forgiveness is conditioned upon repentance, forgiveness should be graciously offered to all."
Most biblical discussions of forgiveness speak of God forgiving humans. Yet several verses stand out, including Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13. Brauns explains that the apostle Paul employs more than one word that English translations render as "forgive." In the case of these two verses, the word we read as "forgive" shares the same root as "grace," so we can understand these verses as charging Christians to treat others with grace. God alone retains the right to exercise justice and forgive, though he works through Christians to offer grace. When we remember that unrepentant sinners will endure the torments of hell for eternity, we can find Christlike compassion to love them.
Without their loved ones, the Olson and Winters families will struggle on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Yet these events Christians commemorate are the grounds of their hope. Good Friday displays the extraordinary lengths God has gone to reconcile sinners.
"Do you doubt that God — who is so committed to justice that he sent his only begotten Son to the cross — do you doubt that he will bring justice to its rightful fruition in the end?" Brauns asks. "Do you have any question that God — who spoke all things into existence, numbers the hairs on your head, and determines the times set for you and the exact places where you live — do you have any question that this God will work all things together for your good?"
The death of a child tests believers unlike anything else. Like Jesus' disciples felt the day after he was crucified, hope appears to be a fool's errand. But when Martin Luther lost his 14-year-old daughter, Magdalena, to the plague, he found hope. As carpenters nailed shut her casket, he exclaimed, "Hammer away! On doomsday she'll rise again."
Collin Hansen is a CT editor at large and author of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists.
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Philip
In both the cases above; due process of law delivered a punishment. In many cases the perpetrator seems to go scot free- the offence has perhaps not gone to trial in the courts of human law. Even after many attempts the anger and desire to avenge keeps returning - calling for a degree of submission to God's justice and sovereignty- which only such an affront can bring.
Catherine
I strongly disagree with the concept that our forgiveness is conditional upon our repentance. If God will only forgive those things I have repented of, then my forgiveness is in my hands and under my control. My reading of Scripture confirms to me that the forgiveness of God is freely offered to all who will accept it, and produces a repentant and contrite heart in those who do accept. It is by accepting God's saving work in Jesus, and acknowledging Jesus as Lord, that we are forgiven; repentance follows that acceptance as the response of a saved heart toward its savior.
Skip
We are not told to forgive with conditions, but simply to forgive. Our forgiveness does not involve forgiving someones sins. We are able to forgive without condition because we know that God will deal with the offender in His time. Either there will be confession and repentance leading to salvation or condemnation and judgment from God. That is what takes away the need for us to demand any condition upon which to base our forgiveness.