A Test of Unconditional Forgiveness

“Total forgiveness is when you are sure that nobody will ever know [what happened].”

— R.T. Kendall

TRUE PARDON is a test of unconditional forgiveness, and a key aspect is protecting the once-transgressor from the dirt of their crime. They have been forgiven, after all! Does Jesus allow the enemy of souls any legitimate intrusion on Grace? I do not think so. So it must be for us, who have chosen to forgive someone, that we would cover the tracks back to the initial ‘crime’. If we cannot do this – if we would be prepared for someone to find out about that dirt, and say ‘Woe to them for this thing done against you!’ – then it is not unconditional forgiveness. It is a conditional form of worthless forgiveness. It is not ‘forgiveness’ at all.

This test of unconditional forgiveness is bound to find us wanting, if we are honest. But we can transcend our weakness for placing conditions on our love by simply casting our will into the seas of God.

What does that mean – cast our will into the seas of God?

Casting Our Will Into the Seas of God

God is like a sea – seemingly limitless in shape, variety, and proportion.

There is something about the sea that is endless and mysterious. The sea hides many worlds in its volume, and under its surface are many enigmas unknown to the common human being. And if the sea is a mystery, and the sea is a metaphor for God, and even the processes of faith as we cast them into God, then we cast them free of any restraint.

The more we throw off the shackles of our own self-willed ‘glory’ – the protection of something very unprotectable – the more we gain by the blessings of the Lord for simply having trusted and obeyed.

These seem like hard things, but they are surprisingly easy. It’s easy because with the will we decide. We decide against ourselves and our own selfishness, pride of the flesh, etc, and we decide for the person we are forgiving. And then we burn our bridges behind us, in order that we simply cannot return to a position of conditional forgiveness or, worse, resentment.

When we cast our will into the sea, our will vanishes under the wavy surface and sinks right to the bottom of the ocean floor – it is irrecoverable. It needs to be this way. Having tossed our selfish regard away we then push straight into love and we push all the way!

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True forgiveness is burying what happened as if it never existed – not that we would truly ever forget. Just like the Father has buried what we did against him by the cross and the resurrection.

True forgiveness mimics grace in every single way.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.