“I think that if God forgives us
we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as
a higher tribunal than Him.”
— C.S. Lewis (1898–1963)
Forgiveness in many ways is a mystery, or at
least it seems that way. Like, it’s not as if it’s easy to explain to someone
how to receive forgiveness—that grace of God that lightens our gait. We can
wonder why it is so strange that the experience of receiving forgiveness, and
living out of that peace, is so rare (even amongst Christians).
I liken the experience of forgiveness—the
receipt of the grace of God so we may feel, within ourselves, forgiven and
released to live unburdened by resounding guilt and shame—to a connection with
God that is also a connection with ourselves.
Indeed, being that God is within us, it’s the
same connection, but one intricately wired.
If we have experienced, truly, forgiveness
through the abounding grace of God, we will feel set free from condemning
ourselves. I don’t believe we can feel completely forgiven by God if we
routinely find ourselves condemned. The understanding of grace is complete upon
the full realisation that Christ hung on the cross—once for all time—once for
every person—once beyond any rescinding—and that reality is unfathomed in its potency.
When we know deep within this grace of God we
cannot ever feel truly condemned.
And let’s not understate this. Wherever we
remain to be healed, like where we continue to struggle, we have not yet
reconciled to ourselves this grace of God that persists with humanity from age
to age, eternally.
The truth of the matter is God never changes
and nor does grace.
The moment we were saved by faith in Jesus,
having put the old life behind us, in admission of our sin, was the very moment
we were forgiven in its complete entirety.
Nothing more needed to be done other than our
acceptance of the fact. But of course we couldn’t live that reality—not
then—until we were gradually discipled through healing.
So the experience of forgiveness—the ability
to forgive ourselves—is dependent upon God’s healing presence in our lives;
that he has done works of healing over the years, and that he remains to be our
healer. Of course all this is dependent on a thriving relationship with God,
where the Lord comes first in our lives.
***
The moment we were saved by faith in Jesus,
having put the old life behind us, in admission of our sin, was the very moment
we were forgiven in its complete entirety. Ours is to live that reality through
a journey of ongoing healing, by which, to know God.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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