Forget Forgiveness?
Matthew 6:12
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
The Greek word for debts is opheilema which means something owed, a due; morally, a fault:--debt.
The Gospel message is essentially, at its core, a message of the offer forgiveness from God to mankind. I say "offer" because it is does have a very serious condition. When people speak of the "Unconditional Love of God," it seems to me to be inaccurate. Forgiveness from God was and is Christ on the Cross. That is is as conditional as it comes. We must accept the offer, repent, and die to self, and pick up our Cross (those sound much more than "unconditional" too).
I have been listening to great sermons from Mark Batterson. In the vision sermons in preparation for his new series of "Garden to City" , there was one of those "Man and Woman in the Street Interviews" where people asked tough questions like "Can a person be a Christian and still believe in Evolution?" and "Really, all of the animals on the Ark?" and "How is it fair to infinitely punish for a finite crime?" It is in the beginning of the Vision 2 sermon.
Since I first listened to the sermon as an audio podcast on my I-Phone and then went back to check on the video with my laptop to see if I at least paraphrased the questions correctly, I discovered that it was actually "Men and Women in Front of a Sheet Interviews" where (presumably) church members asked questions that perhaps informed or skeptical non-believers, as well as believers, might ask. So it was more staged than spontaneous, yet the questions are still legit (there were more questions asked, too).
The last question, in particular, seemed super-salient: "The infinite (and by implication eternal) punishment for a finite crime (sin)?" This question is at least more theologically in line with Biblical truth than denying the reality of sin. No sin? No Saviour necessary. That is where a lot in our culture are at belief-wise. Thanks, but no thanks. Forgive what?
Sin has always been a unpopular doctrine, along with hellfire and punishment. So, the idea that there is sin and it does merit punishment that the questioner forwarded is a step in the correct direction. Yet, there is a deception in that line of question as we see sin as an an individual act like a thread rather than a pervasive condition in the whole cloth of the human being.
As R.C. Sproul has noted, "We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.” See video of sermon. This has profound implications in how we view salvation.
Pascal wrote in Pensees: "The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his wretchedness by the greatness of the remedy which He required ." We have to work backwards from the cure to ascertain the condition. And, that Jesus had to die shows that our sin incurred an infinite cost. This places God's forgiveness in context and its its true grandeur.
We will continue to unwrap and untangle this in future posts.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
The Greek word for debts is opheilema which means something owed, a due; morally, a fault:--debt.
The Gospel message is essentially, at its core, a message of the offer forgiveness from God to mankind. I say "offer" because it is does have a very serious condition. When people speak of the "Unconditional Love of God," it seems to me to be inaccurate. Forgiveness from God was and is Christ on the Cross. That is is as conditional as it comes. We must accept the offer, repent, and die to self, and pick up our Cross (those sound much more than "unconditional" too).
I have been listening to great sermons from Mark Batterson. In the vision sermons in preparation for his new series of "Garden to City" , there was one of those "Man and Woman in the Street Interviews" where people asked tough questions like "Can a person be a Christian and still believe in Evolution?" and "Really, all of the animals on the Ark?" and "How is it fair to infinitely punish for a finite crime?" It is in the beginning of the Vision 2 sermon.
Since I first listened to the sermon as an audio podcast on my I-Phone and then went back to check on the video with my laptop to see if I at least paraphrased the questions correctly, I discovered that it was actually "Men and Women in Front of a Sheet Interviews" where (presumably) church members asked questions that perhaps informed or skeptical non-believers, as well as believers, might ask. So it was more staged than spontaneous, yet the questions are still legit (there were more questions asked, too).
The last question, in particular, seemed super-salient: "The infinite (and by implication eternal) punishment for a finite crime (sin)?" This question is at least more theologically in line with Biblical truth than denying the reality of sin. No sin? No Saviour necessary. That is where a lot in our culture are at belief-wise. Thanks, but no thanks. Forgive what?
Sin has always been a unpopular doctrine, along with hellfire and punishment. So, the idea that there is sin and it does merit punishment that the questioner forwarded is a step in the correct direction. Yet, there is a deception in that line of question as we see sin as an an individual act like a thread rather than a pervasive condition in the whole cloth of the human being.
As R.C. Sproul has noted, "We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.” See video of sermon. This has profound implications in how we view salvation.
Pascal wrote in Pensees: "The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his wretchedness by the greatness of the remedy which He required ." We have to work backwards from the cure to ascertain the condition. And, that Jesus had to die shows that our sin incurred an infinite cost. This places God's forgiveness in context and its its true grandeur.
We will continue to unwrap and untangle this in future posts.
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