But while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are now justified by His blood, therefore we are saved by Him and from the wrath of God. For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His Life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:8-11, ESV (emphasis mine)

So much goodness in the above scripture. None is righteous, so that not a single one of us can boast of any possible earning of the grace, over any other human being, that we have received in Christ Jesus. Yet, our human nature in it’s pride, loves to look down on others… at least I am not like that sinner! Remember the guy that was just forgiven of all of his debts? The Bible is clear, if we are now found in Christ Jesus, we were once considered enemies of God, and those who currently remain unbelievers are, as well. That one finger pointing at another has three more pointing at self. We know the fruit. It stinks and is rotten to the core. We can never earn this grace that we might brag that somehow we managed to get in good with God by our “good” behavior. No. No one is good. Sure, at one time when God created Man and Woman in the Garden of Eden, he said His work was very good. But, oh, how we fell. “None is righteous, no, not one;” (see Romans 3:9-20, NIV)… all have fallen short and the whole world is accountable to God. And grace is freely given, but only in Jesus Christ. And if we sit in judgment, believing another doesn’t deserve that same grace, we truly have missed the mark for the ground is 100% level at the foot of the cross. The only One who can condemn is Christ Himself. And until He returns and restores all things to Himself and His Kingdom reigns on earth as it is in Heaven, the Age of Grace is still here for anyone who understands their own bankruptcy and desperate enough to ask for it.

I have good news, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1, ESV Meaning, the One and only one who does have power and control over the destiny of our souls, God Himself, has provided a way for you to escape the curse from the Garden, the curse of sin and death.

So what do we do about sin and how do we seek forgiveness? We look inward at our own heart (not anyone else’s) and we hold it before the only example of righteousness who came down from Heaven and walked this earth as a human, Jesus Christ, God Himself. We see our heart in it’s own inherently wicked ways. We realize that there is nothing we can do to erase our sin. Sin leads to death. But we know One who can blot out our transgressions and give us life. We come as we are. We stop in our tracks. We repent. If you see it, the Holy Spirit has convicted you of it. God has sought you out and drawn you to Himself. We agree with God that we have sinned and fallen short of His glory. We ask His forgiveness, are reconciled and we turn 180 degrees and go the other direction away from our sin. God gave His son to die for us for this very moment. And this gift of Jesus’ blood which was shed on the cross for us, it is for everyone. Even the worst of sinners. Even …our enemies. The Apostle Paul referenced himself, a Pharisee of Pharisees, the most righteous of righteous – and the chiefest of sinners: those who say their cup is clean on the outside, but yet filthy on the inside. Jesus called out the wickedness of the Pharisees all the time during his years of ministry. All of us are Pharisees at some point. Thankfully, no earthly human gets to decide who receives this forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration, even though some try. It’s already been decided and paid in full by God. And He has made it available to ALL of us at a great cost. It was freely given to us when we didn’t deserve it. While all are welcome to receive it, not everyone will receive it. But let me ask you, will you receive it?

We must only look at our own hearts. Nowhere else. Our hearts are inherently sinful. Even those of us who have been saved still wrestle with sin and have to make a conscious decision every day whom we are going to serve. So not only is there our salvation, but then there is the working out of our salvation in our every day walk with Jesus. Have you been forgiven? The gift of Jesus and eternal salvation is here. It is waiting. Will you embrace it? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9, NIV All you have to do is confess your sin, and ask for Jesus to be Lord of your life. If you do, then you have indeed received reconciliation to God Himself. While this gift is free to you, it will cost you everything that you hold dear here on this earth. God will do the work on helping you clean up your heart. He will strip away whatever is between you and Him until He knows He has your undivided heart. A divided heart is a double-minded heart which Jesus called out in the Pharisees. Once God has your heart, He will ask you to do the same with others. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32, ESV

It’s the hardest thing ever to forgive someone who has hurt you. Especially if that person is unrepentant. Remember, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” Is this not the way of the cross? We need to allow His healing in our hearts when we have been wounded by others. We are even challenged with reconciliation with those who are truly repentant because God is a God of reconciliation and He is never divided against Himself. Never be reconciled with someone who is unrepentant, though. You will know if they are truly repentant by their fruit that they produce which takes time. Regardless of if they are repentant or not, we need to come to a place of forgiveness in our hearts. When we release that person who harmed us, we can be assured that God has not released that person until that person has answered to God for the offense committed. God will deal with the unrepentant person in His own way and He can do the judging way better than we can. It will be done in such a way that is undeniably going to get that person’s attention, whether that person even repents or not. Keep a discerning heart.

We are to keep the peace as much as it is possible within us. We search our heart. We let God search our heart. If there is to be a reconciliation it will happen, because our God is the God of reconciliation. Remember that the same Holy Spirit which lives in our heart also lives in the heart of the repentant person’s heart. From a biblical perspective in Galatians 6:1-5 it says of those who are repentant: that those who live by the Spirit (other Believers) are to gently restore the repentant Believer, even to carry one another’s burdens lest the one gently restoring falls into the same sin. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the one who has been harmed has to do the restoring. I think this scripture has to do more with the church in general and how to deal with a Believer who falls into sin. How to gently restore them back into the church. However, it is biblical that a repentant Believer be shown kindness and forgiveness and be restored into the flock. That person is forgiven by God and so we, too, are supposed to forgive. It lines up with other scripture that we go the extra step with restoration when a Christian is repentant. If we are judgmental of that repentant Believer, mean to them, gossip behind their back to others, exclude them, wish ill-will of them, payback to them what we think they deserve, well…we have just fallen into that bucket of sin, ourselves.

Forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation are foundational truths, authored by God Himself in Christ Jesus. You can never will it on your own. You will see this beautiful truth in other Believers as they live a life of surrender and abandon to Jesus. It is such a fine line of understanding and great wisdom. If you truly are a Believer in Jesus Christ then the Holy Spirit who lives in you, will enable you to let go of that bitterness of the suffered pain and help you to forgive. Remember, it is not for their sake that you forgive, although it may go a long ways in restoration if that person is genuinely repentant and has asked you for that forgiveness. But the forgiveness you give that person, in the space of your own heart and soul, is more for your sake. This is what God requires of you as a Christian. It is the dying to self and your own will: the taking up of your cross. He will show you what it will look like in practicality. Jesus said whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for His sake will find it. (See Matthew 16:24-25, ESV) The hardest thing you will ever do in life is to learn to let go of things in the world that are most important to you (love of ‘whatever’) and the things that are most painful (wounded-ness) which includes your will or “right” to seek vengeance or to hold a grudge against another person who has sinned against you or someone you love. It will only harm you to hold onto this unforgiveness, though, and cause bitterness to grow in your heart. It will grow like a weed and you will be miserable. Pull the weed quickly as soon as you notice it before it takes root. It is truly only God’s right to seek vengeance and justly serve condemnation on another. (See Hebrews 10:30) You can do it. I know you can. Surrender to God. Let it go. He will take care of it. We can be wrong, even when we know we are right.

There are many stories of people who choose to forgive, especially forgiving those who have willfully harmed another out of great evil. I think of Corrie ten Boom and her decision to forgive the Nazi guard who committed evil atrocities to both her and her sister Betsie at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. They let their pain and suffering shape, persevere and grow their character. They understood the positional truth of their hope. It wasn’t a feeling. It was the hope of God’s love poured out into their hearts by the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:2-5). Corrie and Betsie learned, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still,” and “God will give us the love to be able to forgive our enemies.” (see, Ten Boom Museum). Both lives poured out for forgiveness of others who were so undeserving, because they knew themselves, how much they were forgiven. Amazing. It is that love and that forgiveness that comes only from Christ Jesus. He is our perfect example. Why should we even call ourselves Christians if we don’t practice these very truths that we identify within our own hearts? When we choose not to hang on to bitterness and instead to forgive, we indeed are free.

Much has been required to those of us who have been forgiven. If we understand the cost of this forgiveness, we will remember, we too were once… an enemy of God. When we cherish this forgiveness that God shows us in our own lives, we will want that same grace and forgiveness for others. After all, it is only hurt people, who hurt people. As evil as sin can be and harms others, we don’t have to look further than the sin in our own hearts. We need to find it in ourselves to not only forgive others who are just as undeserving, but then to pray for them through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. We need to understand who the rightful author of that evil truly is. Where it comes from. It comes from Satan, the Father of lies and true Enemy of our souls. Don’t miss it. This is a spiritual battle, not a human one. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12, NIV. When we forgive we disarm the influence Satan has in our lives and the forces of darkness.

We would be good to keep this front and center when we are tempted to ruminate about the ones who have hurt us. It will take us down a dark road. We have to remember that Jesus died for that person who harmed you, as well. Jesus said, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7, ESV Pray for their genuine repentance and salvation. The thief on the cross was evidence of this moment of rejoicing in all the Heavenlies and he didn’t even have a chance to live what we would call “the life of a godly Christian”. He must’ve done a ton of soul searching while he was hanging on that cross next to Jesus. Only Jesus could read his mind. Outwardly though, we only have record that he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And He (Jesus) said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23: 42-43, ESV The thief repented. Jesus saw his heart and He had mercy. I wonder what the person thought (the one who had been robbed by that thief) after those words were spoken? What a lesson. Both men on either side of Jesus had the positional truth of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation available to them. They were both “enemies of God”. The forgiveness was there for each one of them to recieve. They both chose. One received. The other did not. Only one entered into glory with Jesus. Jesus had the final word on both of their destinations and He still does today with us.

When we see others as God sees us, pride falls and gravity bears up humility at the core of our hearts, because of the cross. Only Christ is deserving. It is beautiful. See…. He truly makes all things new. He forgives, He restores, and He reconciles…even offering these up for His enemies. This is our God. It doesn’t have to make sense to us. We are so fortunate to be redeemed! Choose today. I am forever grateful for eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, for I was once an enemy.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34, ESV