Reflections for the Season

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance?  He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love.  He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot.  You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”    – Micah 7:18-19

“If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness that You may be feared.”    – Psalm 130:3-4

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”    – 1 John 1:9, 2:1a

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much.  But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”    – Luke 7:47

Gracelife Family,

This collection of verses challenges us to carefully consider if we truly understand and fully appreciate the magnitude of God’s forgiveness of us through the work of Jesus.  In Micah 7, what is highlighted is the radical nature of forgiveness from the Lord.  It’s noteworthy that these words are the conclusion of the prophet’s message.  It seems that forgiveness stood out as paramount to Micah in terms of revealing and confirming God’s surpassing excellence and glory.  That’s why he opened this final section by exclaiming “who is a God like You”!  This act of forgiveness is identified as God’s “pardon”.  The original Hebrew literally means “to lift or take away”.  It communicates that the Lord has removed our personal track record of failures and rebellion from us along with all of the guilt and shame that comes with it. At the same time, because of God’s holiness and justice, this was only possible if our sin and its consequences were transferred to a substitute.  As we are told in Isaiah 53, in order for us to be freely forgiven, all of our wickedness had to be “laid upon” Jesus and punished on the cross.  Amazingly, Jesus made this sacrifice willingly and the Father forgives us joyfully without any reservation.  Jesus’ perfect obedience and death in our place was sufficient to secure our forgiveness permanently.  This is expressed to us in Micah 7:19 with the beautiful imagery of the Lord having stomped all over our sins and “cast them into the depths of the sea” forever.

In Psalm 130, we are reminded that, apart from the Lord’s willingness to forgive us and erase His slate of grievances, no one would have any reason for hope or peace.  What should especially stand out is our proper response to receiving this needed forgiveness.  The psalmist’s prescription is that forgiveness from the Lord should translate into us having a greater fear or more accurately higher “reverence” for the Lord.  That’s a counter-intuitive kind of thinking.  The typical assumption is that our confidence in being forgiven will result in overlooking our sinfulness as ultimately not a big deal.  Instead, the exact opposite should be the case.  The Lord’s expectation is that once we grasp the blessing of His forgiveness it will produce a desire in us to honor and please Him with not only praise but in greater obedience.

This concept is further reinforced in the New Testament as well.  For instance, we find one of the most comforting promises in 1 John 1 where we are assured that any and every time that we take ownership for our sinful attitudes, affections, and practices we can trust that He will not only forgive us but He will apply His cleansing power to our hearts.  We can be confident that the Lord will always forgive and spiritually heal, because “He [remains] faithful and just”.  Once again, just two verses later, our takeaway application from this glorious promise is that it should result in an increased resolve to fight against our sinful tendencies.

Finally, I want to draw our attention to the example of transformation illustrated by the sinful woman in Luke 7.  This woman demonstrated a radical devotion to Jesus.  She was so overcome with gratitude to be in His presence that she cried tears of joy which fell on His feet followed by drying His feet with her hair.  Her love for Jesus was further confirmed when she began to repeatedly kiss His feet.  Finally, she chose to honor Jesus by pouring out a full bottle of expensive perfume on Him.  In so doing, she was communicating that there was nothing more valuable to her than Jesus.  Jesus testified that her extraordinary actions and dedication proved her understanding that she had received exceeding forgiveness from Him.  The same principle applies to us.  As we grow in our grasp of just how much we have been forgiven, we should be continually moved to a deeper love for God and greater commitment to serving and honoring Him with everything that we have.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Keith