/Who is a god just like You, taking away guilt, and passing over
rebellion for the remainder of His inheritance? He does not hold fast,
forever, (to) His anger. For He is inclined toward loving-kindness,
Himself. He will turn, He will have compassion on us; He will subdue our
guilts, and you will cast down into the shadows of the sea all their
sins. You will give truth to Jacob, loving-kindness to Abraham, which
You swore to our fathers, from days before./
"If you don't say you're sorry...then I don't have to say I forgive
you!" How many times have you had this sentiment? Perhaps in your youth
you've said these, or similar words. It's the age-old question of the
relationship of repenting to forgiving. We know well that repentance
must precede forgiveness. We learned as much from the /Catechism/, how
the Pastor deals with us by God's command, forgiving those who repent,
but binding sins to those who do not repent, until the time that they
eventually do.
But we must be very careful when it comes to the relationship between
repenting & forgiving, because it is all-too-easy to get things wrong!
Some Christians don't really understand what repentance & forgiveness
are all about. Other believers think these are things people are doing,
and don't notice what God is accomplishing in our repenting & forgiving.
Still others among us may be using all the wrong measuring sticks for
others when it comes to their repenting & being forgiven.
We don't always operate with correct notions of repenting & forgiving.
Sometimes we think that repenting is about having perfect actions. We
expect our neighbor to somehow *prove* he or she is repentant "enough",
before we will offer our forgiveness. Or we think that forgiving is only
tolerance-- simply acting civil toward our neighbor, but deep in our
hearts still holding a grudge against them. We sometimes don't really
separate the sin from the so-called forgiven person as totally as we
ought to.
So as Lutherans we begin by defining our terms: Repenting is God's work
to turn around sinners by changing hearts & minds. The Spirit 1st
convicts them of their sins, the Law causing guilt & sorrow in their
hearts. Then He works faith in their hearts which trust's in the
forgiveness of Jesus. Forgiveness is God taking away sins, along with
everything attached to them. All the guilt is removed; the rebellion is
forgotten. God's anger is gone; and sins' punishment is poured out in
full on Jesus at the cross.
We may sometimes forget God's pivotal role in repentance & forgiveness.
We think that God leaves sinners on their own to try to turn their lives
around. We expect them to change overnight, and live up to our personal
standards. When they don't, we all-too-quickly consider them
"not-fully-repentant" and thus we foolishly assume that they aren't
forgiven. They haven't *earned* forgiveness, or so we are inclined to
think, simply because we haven't seen enough effort from them to
convince us.
But God doesn't leave us alone to try to repent & to earn forgiveness.
Jesus, our Immanuel is indeed God-with-us! He promises to be with each
Christian to the very end of the age. With Paul you may say, "It is no
longer I who lives, but Christ Who lives in me!" And the Christ--Who
comes into your flesh & blood body with His Own body & blood for you to
eat and drink--He works repentance in you. And at the price of His body
given & blood shed for you at Calvary, He has earned your forgiveness!
We sometimes set ourselves up as both judge & jury as to who is or is
not a "good Christian". We act like the Pharisees of old, or the
Pietists after Luther's day, who foolishly tried to evaluate everyone
against the fickle measuring-stick of outward appearances. We look for
the *fruit of repentance* as though it is proof positive of inner faith.
But we have no faith-ometer which can be plugged into the human heart.
Outward works may only be evidence of the "white-washed tombs" Jesus
pointed out.
Since repentance is a work of God, the fruits of repentance actually
measure His work, not ours! These are fruits of God's Spirit, which out
to cause us to rejoice along with the angels, whose joy is great over
each sinner God brings to repentance. Likewise faith is also a work of
God. If the faithfulness God produces in a believer is evident, God
alone is to be praised for this great work! And the forgiveness which
Jesus offers was accomplished 2000 years before any of us could earn it!
It is the work of God alone which has brought you to the contrition &
faith of repentance. Just as it is His work alone to forgive you your
sins in Christ Jesus. You who have been baptized have received God's
forgiveness, for He has put the kebosh on your guilts, and cast your
sins into the dark sea of of your baptism, where that filthy flood from
the font poured them on Jesus your Savior at the cross. For your God is
inclined toward loving-kindness, as He always has been. He has had
compassion on you in your Savior Jesus, the Christ! He has brought you
to repentance, and He has forgiven you all your sins. Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
[email protected]
