2016.03.20_Love is to Forgive

Jesus redeemed humanity who broke the first commandment
God is love. He created humankind for His own will and in order to preserve them, He gave them a commandment forbidding them from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God created man to have a free will so that he may choose to either obey or disobey God’s will (Deut 30:19).

Man succumbed to the devil’s temptation and failed to keep God’s commandment. Consequently, his spirit died. The spirit’s death does not mean the spirit disappeared, but that it was doomed eternal punishment in hell. God had pity for man who was in such a state of despair, and sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross. Through the death of His own Son, God opened a way to salvation for us.

The Lord gave us baptism as a course through which we can escape our doomed fate. Though it takes only a short time for one to be baptized, the spiritual transformation brought about by baptism is huge. As soon as a person is immersed underwater, he buries his old self that died of sin, and is united with the risen Christ as he comes out of the water. Thus he obtains the right to partake in the resurrection.

Jesus redeemed us by paying the price of our sin in our place. The word redemption carries the meanings ‘to save’ and ‘to pay a debt’. Jesus accomplished redemption once and for all; He cannot be crucified ever again. He paid the price of man’s sin once and for all when He died on the cross (Rm 6:23).

Do not sin willfully, for you have been redeemed
A person who has been redeemed must not go on sinning willfully. God allows the redeemed to be baptized, receive the laying on of hands, receive His good words, and taste the powers of the coming age and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A person who falls away after having such clear experiences cannot be renewed again to repentance. If there are any little chances remaining, he must constantly maintain a grateful heart towards the Lord for His love which saved him, and obey His words (He 6:1-8).

Our love towards God must forever be unchanging. We should not quench out the grace of God by sinning willfully (He 10:26-31). To sin willfully means to contend with God. In other words, it means to return to the state prior to being baptized and thus become God’s enemy all over again. Whoever sins willfully like so does not have the chance to repent again. God did not provide another sacrifice for sin for such a person.

The church is the body of Jesus (Ep 1:23), and Jesus is God. Hence if anyone opposes the church, he can also considered as sinning willfully. Jesus said, “If your brother sins, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, excommunicate him” (Mt 18:15-17).

Redemption from Adam’s sin of disobeying God’s commandment was accomplished once only. To sin willfully is an act of denying this grace of God, and therefore whoever sins willfully cannot expect any mercy from God. As even Jesus cannot be an Advocate for such a person, he will have to give account of himself to God (Rm 14:12).

Love is to forgive
God gave new life to the redeemed. This is so that those who received life may have everlasting life (Jn 12:50). Just as Jesus obeyed the Father’s commandment in order to be raised to life, we also have to obey God’s commandment in order to have eternal life. This commandment is that we should love our brothers.

We became brothers and sisters in Christ through baptism. Thus we now ought to love one another. Though someone gives up his life to save another, if he has not love, it means nothing (1 Co 13:1-3). What is love? It is forgiveness. Just as God redeemed and forgave us, we also have to love one another.

A king took pity on a person who owed him ten thousand talents and cancelled his debt. However this person did not show such mercy to the one who owed him a hundred denarii and put him in jail until he could pay him back. When the king found out, he called the person and said, “I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? Now you must pay back all your debt”. After Jesus said this, He emphasized this by saying, “My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Mt 18:23-35).

When Peter asked, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Mt 18:21-22). This means we have to forgive endlessly.

The world is increasingly becoming evil. Nowadays it often happens that parents harm their children and vice versa. The most important element within the relationship of parents and children is love. No matter how well parents feed and clothe their children, without forgiveness it is not true love. This is the same between husband and wife; there must be love. A wife must forgive her husband and the husband his wife.

God redeemed humankind who broke the first commandment and was doomed to death. Thus to sin against God willfully means to become His enemy forever. Anyone who sins against the church cannot be forgiven either, for that is also a sin committed willfully. However, any struggle or conflict between people can be resolved if only there is forgiveness. If brothers and sisters forgive one another, the church will be filled with love. There must be forgiveness between husband and wife, parents and children. Without holding a grudge, everyone ought to forgive one another by the help of the Holy Spirit.