Forgive, Forgiven

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 ESV)

Reconciled, Reconciliation, reconciling, and entrusting powerful words written by Paul. It is hard to forgive; trust me, I know. It has been hard for some to forgive me and for me to forgive others. If I gave up my life because others would not forgive me, would there still be enmity in their hearts for me? If others gave up their life for me, would it change anything that had occurred between me and them? The answer is I do not know. Maybe their hearts or my heart would be burdened by the loss. Maybe there would be satisfaction for them, which in my eyes is heartless.

Christ reconciled the world by His sacrifice, and what has happened? Those whom God calls to Himself can be reconciled, forgiven their sins, and made righteous before God. For those of the world who will never understand the gospel, nothing will change. They will continue sinning, unforgiven, as they walk through the wide gate to hell. Even before we existed, Christ died for us.

I often tell unbelievers that if they were the only ones alive in this world at the time of the crucifixion, Christ would have died for them. Jesus died for each of us, for individual salvation, and a different, unique change with each conversion, but salvation nonetheless.

Once we are saved, nothing can pluck us out of God's hand—not a spouse, a child, a criminal, or Satan himself. Once forgiven, reconciled, justified, however you want to phrase it, we can never be taken from Christ. We may sin or backslide, but repentance is how to reconcile our failures.

Now, here is the hard part. We know Christ forgives us our sins. Paul tells us this when he says, “not counting their trespasses against them.” But others still will. The hard part is forgiving those who have hurt or betrayed us. It is hard, but Christ forgave us, and we should remember that every single sin we have committed is a death sentence before an all-holy God that has been erased.

Forgive those who have harmed, hurt, betrayed, or sinned against you. Christ told us, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15 ESV)

Have you forgiven them? You know exactly to whom I am referring. If you have not, you must because you now know the outcome if you do not. Has Christ forgiven you? Have you professed your faith in Him as your Savior? If you have not, do not wait. We never know if tomorrow will come, and your sins are great. Profess your faith and repent of your sins. Christ is waiting.

Grace and Peace!