Dear Ones:
What makes forgiving someone so difficult, especially if the offense is so very egregeous? And what is the difference between “societal” forgiveness, and that which is of God? There are earth-shattering repercussions in the life, and in society, when one truly understands the answers to these questions. It becomes a question of slavery to sin and men, and the liberty of the soul by the grace of God.
Let us begin with the issue of sin, for this is the cause of the need of forgiveness. Sin is an act, and an attitude of rejection, rebellion, refusing of that which is of God, of heaven. Every time one sins in word or in deed, that person becomes a debtor to God for the offense. And the debt must be paid to the Creator. Forgiveness means not only the forgetting of that debt owed, but that the payment for the debt has been applied. This is the basis of the forgiving of the debt. The repercussions of the payment of the debt, the forgetting of the debt, the “wiping clean of the slate,” is that the soul knows freedom from the weight of guilt, a bad conscience towards God, and the consequent capacity to forgive oneself, accepting and embracing the reality of God’s authoritative decree, “….He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from ALL (…and thus, thoroughly) sin.” Only God can cleanse the heart, and restore to a right attitude of mind and heart towards God and men.
Societal forgiveness stands in stark contrast to that which is Divine. It is never complete, never fully resolved, never cleansing the heart and mind. It is only a band-aid patch on a problem, and need, that can only be resolved by an act of God, by His Spirit. How can a debt owed for doing wrong to another individual ever be paid, from a human standpoint, and according to the capacities of men? Not possible. When Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, in the garden, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Jesus picked up the ear and put it back on the head of Malchus, and healed him. Only God can do this. And so it is with true forgiveness. Society can never accomplish the work of God.
Love, Dad