Our Forgiving God

Forgiveness is a wonderful blessing. That is true when we receive forgiveness from another person. It is also true when we forgive other people. In both cases forgiveness gives us another opportunity to be restored in our relationship, and we all need healthy relationships. When we have broken relationships, it does us great harm, whether we realize it or not. Forgiveness is a gift from our forgiving God.

The psalmist was glad to see God's forgiveness for us, and he gave us an insight to help us understand forgiveness, which should be a blessing to all of us. (Psalm 99:8) "O Lord our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but You punished them when they went wrong." Let's see if we can understand this verse and clear up a misunderstanding of how forgiveness works.

When God forgives us, and when we forgive others, we release the other person from any debt they may owe us. We wipe the slate clean, so that nothing stands between us and them. This frees us to love each other and relate in a healthy way. When God forgives a specific sin for us, He cleanses us. (I John 1:9) We are right with Him, and He is right with us. However, this doesn't mean that we get to assume God's automatic forgiveness for other things, as well. Let me explain.

Yes, when we are saved all of our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. God no longer holds them against us. But when we sin after we get saved, those sins hurt our relationship with God. and He has to punish us when we go wrong. That is why we can't presume upon God's forgiveness, and go ahead and sin more, thinking He will forgive us then, too. No, He will punish us, if we sin again, until we seek His forgiveness for that sin. I pray this helps us stay right with God all of the time.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 101-103.