Acknowledgment of Sin
Forgiveness begins with an acknowledgment of our sin. “All have sinned” (Romans 3:25), the Scriptures declare. Our confession is an acknowledgment that our sins have helped put Jesus Christ on the cross. We, too, share in the sins of humanity. The sins of humanity cost God the incarnation and the suffering death of his Son. The Word became flesh and identified with humanity. God’s sacrifice to bring us forgiveness is beyond belief. It is indeed matchless grace. God’s costly sacrifice should remind us of the horror of sin. There cannot be forgiveness without the recognition that sin is an awful act in God’s sight.
I like the prayer of Eric Milner White, which he adapted from one of the prayers of John Donne.
Forgive me, O Lord
O Lord forgive me my sins,
the sins of my youth,
the sins of the present;
the sins I laid upon myself in an ill pleasure,
the sins I cast upon others in an ill example;
the sins which are manifest to all the world,
the sins which I have laboured
to hide from mine acquaintance,
from my own conscience,
and even from my memory;
my crying sins and my whispering sins,
my ignorant sins and my willful;
sins against my superiors, equals, servants,
against my lovers and benefactors,
sins against myself, mine own body, my own soul;
sins against thee,
O Almighty Father,
O merciful Son,
O blessed Spirit of God.[6]
Accept God’s Acceptance of Us
To receive forgiveness, we begin with an acknowledgment that we are sinners. But we have to do more than acknowledge our sins. We have to accept God’s forgiveness. We have to accept our acceptance by God. This acceptance is an affirmation that even in our sinfulness we are not abandoned by God. Our sins need not destroy us, but we can be set free from them and become new persons again through God’s forgiveness.
If Jesus Christ could ask for forgiveness of others in his dying moments on the cross, look at the message that reveals to us about the forgiving grace of God. But you and I have to be willing to accept that forgiveness. We can’t just think about it, talk about it, preach about it, hear about it, or sing about it. We must accept God’s forgiveness if it is to be meaningful for us.
In 1830 a man named George Wilson killed a government agent while he was trying to rob the U. S. mail. He was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson gave him a pardon. But George Wilson did a strange thing. He turned the pardon down. Nobody knew what to do then. What do you do with a man who has turned down a pardon? His case went all the way to the Supreme Court. At that time Chief Justice Marshall made this ruling: “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” And he was!
The forgiveness of God must be accepted. You and I must open our hearts and lives to God and receive his grace, if it will benefit us.
Having Been Forgiven, We Forgive Others
Having received God’s pardon, then we in turn have to forgive others. The only petition in the Lord’s Prayer that has any condition to it is the one that says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us” (Mark 11:26). A closed heart or a closed mind the unwillingness to forgive others blocks our own relationship to God and closes the door to our own ability to receive God’s forgiveness. The woman who said, “I’ll forgive but I won’t forget,” hasn’t really experienced forgiveness. Having experienced God’s forgiveness, we cannot refuse to forgive others. To be unforgiving is to inhibit God’s grace in our own lives. Our refusal closes the door to God’s love toward us.
Several years ago when I had an opportunity to be in England, I visited the Coventry Cathedral. This cathedral was completely destroyed by German bombs in the Second World War. After the war, the cathedral was rebuilt. In the ruins of the old cathedral, which is preserved as an outdoor chapel, stands a wooden cross which was constructed from timbers out of the burned out cathedral. On these two charred pieces of wood there are two words: “Father forgive.” They reflect the spirit of our Lord.
Jesus hanging on the cross cried: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Those words include you and me. Thank God they do.
[1] Howard Marshall, Commentary On Luke (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Co., 1978), 867 ff.
[2] George Buttrick (editor) “The Gospel According to Luke,” The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. VIII (New York: Abingdon Press, 1952), 408.
[3] Rob Bell, Love Wins (New York: HarperOne, 2011), 189.
[4] Carlyle Marney, He Became Like Us (New York: Abingdon Press, 1964), 21.
[5] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1943), 89, Book III.
[6] Quoted in Richard Holloway, The Killing: Meditations on the Death of Jesus (Wilton, Connecticut.: Morehouse Barlow, 1984), 39-40.
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