If
we refuse to forgive, we have stepped into dangerous waters. First, refusing to forgive is to put
ourselves in the place of God, as though vengeance were our prerogative, not
his. Second, unforgiveness says God's
wrath is insufficient. For the
unbeliever, we are saying that an eternity in hell is not enough, they need our
slap in the face or cold shoulder to "even the scales" of
justice. For the believer, we are saying
that Christ's humiliation and death are not enough. In other words, we shake our fists at God and
say, "Your standards may have been satisfied, but my standard is
higher!" Finally, refusing to
forgive is the highest form of arrogance.
Here we stand forgiven. And as we
bask in the forgiveness of a perfectly holy and righteous God, we turn to our
brother and say, "My sins are forgivable, but yours are not." In other words, we act as though the sins of
others are too significant to forgive while simultaneously believing that ours
are not significant enough to matter.
Voddie Baucham Jr.
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