Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Wiping the slate clean

^“You are a God ready to forgive,

gracious and merciful, slow to anger

and abounding in steadfast love.”

Nehemiah 9:17

Forgiveness is about relationships

In the parable we explored in chapter 1, the father was hurt by his sons. The younger son had essentially told him that he wished his father dead. The son then brought more shame upon the father by squandering his money, losing it to Gentiles. The older son also hurt his father, expressing his anger and frustration that he thought the father treated him as a slave.

Sadly, it is all too easy to say or do the wrong thing and either deliberately or inadvertently cause hurt. We know that God has given us rules to live by, such as to love our neighbour, yet we find his commands impossible to keep. The apostle Paul recognised this when writing to the Romans, saying, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[1] And the Apostle John in his first letter wrote, “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”[2] Sinfulness breaks the relationship, and creates a barrier, between us and God. That barrier needs removing and the relationship healing.

One of the most fascinating things about forgiveness is that there is nothing that the person who has caused the hurt can do to mend the broken relationship. If I break my wife’s treasured crystal vase that was given to her by her grandmother, who in turn received it from her grandmother, she is cross and angry with me, particularly because she had told me not to move it. The vase may be broken but so is the relationship between us. I may be full of remorse. I may express my sorrow. I may shower my wife with flowers and chocolates, but if she refuses to forgive me, despite my saying sorry and regardless of the gifts (she knows I am only trying to placate her wrath) the relationship remains broken. However, if she forgives me, then there is hope that the relationship can be repaired.

Reflect on that point for a moment. The person who has sinned, the person who had caused harm, cannot fix a broken relationship. A necessary condition for healing is forgiveness, and that can only be granted by the person who is hurt or offended.

For course, if the forgiveness offered is not accepted the relationship remains broken. A person suffering in an abusive relationship may be forgiving, but if the abuser is unrepentant (if they are not remorseful and seeking to amend their behaviour) the relationship remains broken.

Forgiveness as ‘letting go’

In the New Testament, the Greek word we translate as “forgiveness” literally means “to let go.” It is associated with releasing a person from a debt, and so it is interesting that Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Prayer includes “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”[3] More literally, the Greek is, ‘forgive us what we owe as we forgive those who owe us.’ So, granting of forgiveness implies wiping the slate clean, or letting go of any claim to be compensated for the hurt or loss suffered. The forgiver is not seeking or expecting anything in return, that is, forgiveness is unconditional. True forgiveness means letting go of any resentment for as Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, love “is not irritable or resentful;” nor does love “keep a record of wrongs.”[4]

In the parable we explored in chapter one the father demonstrated this kind of love towards his younger son. The older brother, however, had kept a tally of how he had considered he had been wronged by his father, and by his brother.

Repentance – “U-turn if you want to”

When we speak of repentance what do we mean? Is repentance simply a synonym for remorse or contrition, or does it have a deeper meaning?

Two words are used in the Old Testament that are usually translated as ‘repent.’ The first is naham, meaning to be sorry, remorseful, or to change one’s mind. The second is sub, meaning to turn around. The English word ‘repentance’ has both connotations. In the New Testament the Greek word metamelomai is used meaning to change one’s mind and feel remorse. However, the idea of turning around, or turning back to God, is a strong inference of the word ‘repent’ in the New Testament.

John, we are told baptised in the Jordan, and that this was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. The people being baptised by John were, by their actions, making public statements of their having changed their minds. They had changed their minds to live, as best they could, according to the way God wanted them to live. They were telling people that they were renouncing their old sinful way of life and turning back to God. This is what repentance means in a New Testament context. It is about a person having understood their sinfulness, wanting to change, and so turning away from sin and back towards God, to be supported and helped by him to live according to his teaching.

There are three aspects of baptism symbolised in John’s baptism of repentance. First, there was that of washing a person clean and their emerging from the water cleansed from sin to begin anew. Second, there was the symbolism of drowning and so dying to their old life and rising to a new life with God. Finally, it referred back to the time the Hebrew people escaped the oppression of the Egyptians by coming through the waters of the Red Sea to a new life of freedom following God. Baptism symbolised being set free from oppression and slavery of sin into a new way of life following God.

In the parable the younger son expressed his repentance in the physical action of turning around and going back to his father and in his practiced confession. His words, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you,” in verse 18, (even though he does not manage to say them to his Father when they meet) is a verbal expression of his recognising his sinfulness and a desire to turn around his life. Importantly, he wanted to be back with his father, even if he did not consider himself worthy to be reinstated as a son. In this case there was naham, hence a confession, “I have sinned,” and sub, a desire to turn around his life and his relationship with his father.

Certainly. if we turn back to God and “confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,”[5] to quote the Apostle John.

The younger son had been part of the family, but there was nothing he could do to become part of the family again. However, by turning around he was able to receive his father’s gracious gift of forgiveness, and be welcomed back into the family.

Covenant not Contract

In today’s western culture we only think in terms of contracts and seem to have largely lost the understanding of covenants. Many of the agreements we make are contingent on both parties fulfilling their obligations and responsibilities as written in the contract. The signatories of a contract agree to uphold their end provided the other signatories uphold theirs too. If one party fails to do what they are contractually obliged to do, then the contract is breached. There is then no legal requirement upon the other party to continue to fulfil their part of the contract. The whole contract becomes null and void. Often penalties are incurred.

That is not how a covenant works. Covenants are trust-based promises that rely on integrity and discipline. They are about relationship rather than law. In a covenant, both parties agree to fulfil the promises they have made regardless of whether the other party keeps their part of the agreement. Religious covenants are unconditional promises made by a party to uphold their obligations regardless of whether the other party breaches the terms of the covenant.

The context of the parable is that Jesus was talking to Jews, the covenant people of God, and among them Pharisees and scribes, the Jewish religious leaders. God continued to fulfil his part of the covenant, but it required sinners to turn back to God to take advantage of what God was offering. The father’s forgiveness in the parable would have been of little use to the younger son, had the son not turned around and gone back home.

In the Old Testament among the sacrificial ceremonies were specific sacrifices to atone for sin. These were never a perfect means of dealing with sin and so needed to be repeated. They simply became rituals that people went through. God chastised them many times saying that it is not sacrifices of animals or grain he wants but a sacrificial heart, a change of ways, “to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”[6]

So, God made a New Covenant with his people. He told Jeremiah, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God told Jeremiah that the Law will not be written in stone, as was the Ten Commandments, but written in people’s hearts. God’s relationship with his people will be a warm and loving relationship not a cold stony one. Sin will be both forgiven by God and forgotten by God. Indeed, the metaphor of marriage is a common one in the scriptures to describe the relationship between God and his people; “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name.”[7] God makes it clear that this will be a love match not a marriage of convenience.

That New Covenant was inaugurated on the cross. The Apostle Paul succinctly summarised Christ’s work upon the cross when he wrote to the Corinthian church; “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[8] Likewise, the Apostle Peter wrote, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”[9] Similarly, John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[10]

On the cross Jesus did what he urged people to do in his sermon on the mount^[11], he prayed for those who were persecuting him. Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Was Jesus only praying for the soldiers who were dutifully following orders to nail him to a cross? Was Jesus also praying for the Jewish religious leaders, Pilate, and all who had a hand in his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, even Judas? (Jesus’ prayer might also be interpreted as a cry for all whose sins he had taken with him to the cross.) So we can understand Jesus’ prayer as a prayer to God the Father, rather than a direct statement of forgiveness to specific individuals, many of whom were simply not at Calvary. It is also a prayer that asks for God’s forgiveness regardless of the fact there is no sign of repentance from those who were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion.

God’s offer of forgiveness is unconditional, but to be made effective it must be accepted. In so doing, the sinner recognises his sinfulness. He recognises he is forgiven through no effort of his own but simply through the grace of God. There is a turning around towards God who is faithful, merciful, and gracious. The sinner is therefore able to receive God’s gracious gift of forgiveness and his welcome back into the family of God’s faithful people. Peter made this very point in his wonderful speech to the crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, " Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.”[12]

We will return to this theme in chapter 5 when we will consider faith and what the Apostle Paul refers to as ‘justification’ in the light of Christ’s sacrificial death. In the following chapters we will explore the relationship between forgiveness, repentance and covenant. We will also explore the nature of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and how, once we have turned back to God and accepted his forgiveness, we find unity, or at-one-ment with God.

Points for reflection

1. Do you agree, as stated above, that a “person who has sinned, the person who has caused harm, cannot fix a broken relationship?

2. Does forgiving someone mean that the harmful actions of another are condoned?

3. How important to you is your baptism? Although you may not remember it, since you may have been baptised as an infant, is it the most important event of your life?

4. Why is it important that God chose to make covenants with his people rather than contracts? Would the world be more like the Kingdom if there were fewer contracts and more covenants?

5. How does it make you feel that through faith in Jesus your sin is not only forgiven it is not even remembered by God?

Prayer

Father God, you made us in your image with a heart to love you, a mind to know you and a will to serve you, but we confess that we fail to grow in your likeness. Forgive that we walk our own path and that we fail to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We confess that we fail to love our neighbour and walk by on the other side when we see others in need. We confess that are cruel in what we say, and neglectful in our thoughts. Forgive us that we are careless with your world. We do not treasure its diversity of flora and fauna, but pollute the air, water, land and even the space around the planet. We destroy the forests and live in unsustainable ways. We confess that we are too concerned about our rights and fail to meet our obligations. We are self-centred and self-seeking. Forgive us that we fail to live up to our calling to be fishers of men and women. We ask your forgiveness. Heal us, cleans us, restore us.

We turn again to you, seeking the power of the Holy Spirit to begin anew, that your will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven, so that lives will be transformed and we will see the Kingdom grow, to your praise and glory. In the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour we pray. Amen.

[1] Romans 3:23

[2] 1 John 1:8

[3] Matthew 6:12

[4] 1 Corinthians 13:5 Note different versions of the Bible translate this verse differently. For example, both the ESV and NRSV give, love is “is not irritable or resentful” and omits ‘does not keep a record of wrongs.’ The ASV gives, love “is not provoked, taketh not account of evil,” whilst the NIV gives, love “it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” The Greek uses both the term, paroxunetai meaning love is not incensed or provoked, and the term, logizetai indicating love does not account for, or keep a record of wrongdoing. Arguably, the GNT best reflects the Greek by expressing that both record keeping and resentfulness are inconsistent with love. The GNT translates verse 5 as, “love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs”

[5] 1 John 1:9

[6] Micah 6:6

[7] Isaiah 54: 5

[8] Romans 5:8

[9] 1 Peter 2:24

[10] John 1:29

[11] Matthew 5:44

[12] Acts 3:19-20