JANUARY 8
THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS
“If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is
forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared (held in reverential awe).”
(Psalm 130:3-4)
In His teaching, Jesus gives new light on forgiveness, when we read, ”Forgive,
and ye shall be forgiven,” (Luke 6:37). His grace is sufficient to freely
forgive all our sin, and He does, praise God, but it is also to be discovered
that in order for a believer to comprehend more of the nature of this
forgiveness, and to really and truly know that he has been forgiven, he must
also learn to forgive others. Many a child of God carries a secret load of
guilt-feelings, subconsciously tormented with thoughts that possibly God might
still hold something against them. So when troubles come their way, to test and
develop them, they think of it only in terms of how God must yet be punishing
them. How little do they understand forgiveness!
Let it be remembered, “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great
is His mercy toward them that fear Him,” (Psalm 103:10-11). Furthermore, “As far
as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from
us”. Think of that! This action of God is based completely upon His own grace
and mercy. When a sin is forgiven, God does not bring it back at a later time
and punish us for it. Such ideas defame the character of God! Even Peter wrote
of how false teachers would bring in “heresies of destruction, denying even the
Lord that bought them”, (II Peter 2:1).
The King James Version gives “damnable heresies”. It is truly a destructive
heresy, even worse; it is a heresy of damnation, a very false teaching of
wrathful punishment. The GOSPEL in no way teaches this gruesome idea, all of
God’s judgments are correctional, with a view to peace and full restoration and
victory. His forgiveness is all encompassing. We also learn to forgive by having
wrongs done against us, and at the same time learn new depths of how we
ourselves have been forgiven of all our iniquities.
Ray Prinzing
Sister Doris Prinzing
1130 Allumbaugh St. Apt 257
Boise, Id 83704-8700
Home | Preston Eby | Elwin Roach | Margit Roach | Ray Knight