In our study of the Heidelberg Catechism (The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism) we reached the fifth request of the Lord’s Prayer "forgive us our debts" (Lord's Day 51) and I mentioned my recent understanding of forgiveness that came from our lengthy study of Matthew where the binding exercised by a priest's "finger"( Matthew 23:4) was contrasted with the power granted to us by which we loose what is bound both on earth and in heaven (Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18).
For when a priest bound a person, that person had to make atonement for their actions. When we forgive someone personally we loose them from that. They need not make atonement to us. They are forgiven.
Regularly we pray as we have been taught by our Lord:
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Jesus became the ultimate example of this on the cross, when Jesus said "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34).
With that request were all those who were killing Jesus ushered down the Ordo Salutis from regeneration, through justification, to adoption? No, they were simply forgiven for that particular action. But what does that mean? What actually took place?
- What is forgiven is stricken from the "books" (Revelation 20:12) by which we will be judged. Please note, we will all fail this judgement.
- We are justified because our name was placed in the "book of life" (Revelation 20:15), by which we are saved through the substitutionary work of Christ, where He is punished for our sin and we are credited with His righteousness instead. Only Christ's work on the cross can justify, because He pays the penalty for what is still written in the books.
Let’s watch this in action in Matthew 12:1-8, when Jesus and the disciples took advantage of the law that permitted personal consumption of a neighbor's grain (Deuteronomy 23:25). Hunger mercifully overrides the eighth commandment (Exodus 20:15), which prohibits theft.
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
However, the Pharisees held that it did not override the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8), which prohibited work on the Sabbath. They attempted to bind Him and require atonement.
In response, Jesus repeats for them a second time Hosea 6:6 (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:17), which instructs us to add mercy to judgement. And in Matthew 12:9-14, Jesus demonstrated this by working on a Sabbath to be merciful to a man. This infuriated the Pharisees.
Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? . . . But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Then in Matthew 12:22-32, the Pharisees attempt once again to bind Him, without denying any of the miracles, this time by challenging the source of Jesus’ power as He continues to cast out demons. This would have been a violation of the laws having to do with sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). This is the second time (Matthew 9:33-34) that this blasphemous charge was spoken:
“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
In response to this blasphemy (blasphēmia) of Himself and in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:12), He forgives them! But He warns them, however, that similar actions against the Holy Spirit cannot be similarly forgiven. Instead, such sin must always be punished (Matthew 12:32).
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This is a tough passage. What happens if I make an off-handed comment? What if I say something during deep lamentation?
Many attempt to comfort the repentant by explaining that if they are repentant of this unpardonable sin, they cannot possibly have committed the sin, because the repentant are always forgiven (1 John 1:9). They identify this sin as the high-handed ongoing rejection of the Holy Spirit, which would indeed lead the unrepentant to damnation (Matthew 25:31-46).
However, the brevity of the action (“a word”) and the tense of the verb, do not support this. In fact, in Matthew 12:33-37, it explains that every word will be judged and must be accounted for. Even the careless ones.
“ . . . I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
So, this shocking statement must be understood from within the proclaimed Gospel. Our Redeemer does not simply erase sin, but rather takes it upon Himself (Matthew 8:17). So, for the repentant, this grievous sin and all others, are propitiated by the work of Christ on the cross, where He is punished instead of them. There is no sin, where the work of Christ on the cross is not sufficient.
So what then, is the difference between our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? Why is blasphemy against one forgivable and not the other. We are taught in WSC #6 that "these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory".
While they are not substantively different, they are positionally different. Jesus relinquished His authority temporally, permitting Himself to forgive sin personally, just as He has instructed us to do, and not require its atonement. He takes the humiliation upon Himself and it is stricken from the books.
But not so with the Holy Spirit. He has remained in glory. He is not the sacrifice. He cannot similarly forgive such evil. Praise be to God that our Lord Jesus Christ is willing to be our propitiation and protect us from God’s wrath, for any sin against the Holy Spirit must be left on the books.
At this point we must return to the warning of Matthew 6:15:
“. . . but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
That is another tough passage. In essence, it warns that those that fail to practice forgiveness should question their salvation.
Jesus was asked by Peter how many times one should forgive. The Pharisees held that it was three times based on God’s pattern (Amos 1-2). Peter thought it might be seven. Jesus responded with a ridiculous number (Matthew 18:21-22) and then goes on to explain in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35).
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
These keys are given not just to Peter, but to all who stand with Peter in the Kingdom of God. They are not simply the capricious power to pass judgement, but rather the opportunity to share in the sufferings of Christ and take upon oneself someone else’s sin.
To see this in action, let’s look at another tough passage:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
Paul did not say here that Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, was in some way insufficient, just that there was more sacrificing to be done (Romans 8:16-18). Each time Paul was stoned, imprisoned unjustly, or falsely accused, he forgave them! He did not require atonement. He loosed them from it. Using the keys of the Kingdom, he took it off the books both on earth and in heaven!
I had previously held that when I forgive, God will still eventually punish my offender. That is not true, for what I forgive, they will not be punished. Never. Ever.
On the other hand, what we do not forgive will be punished. These are sobering thoughts. What happens when we fail to forgive a Christian? What happens when we as a believer fail to ask for forgiveness? More is left on the books, more for which Christ must atone. May it never be!
Is there a time not to forgive? Yes. The protocol is clearly laid out again in Matthew 18:
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The only time we are commanded not to forgive is for an unrepentant “brother”, and only after this three step protocol has been followed and their unrepentant sin has been recognized by the church. For, then they are no brother at all. Rather than repenting and receiving the forgiveness from a true brother who is willing to be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), they are now presuming upon Christ’s sacrifice, essentially attempting to crucify Him a second time (Hebrews 6:4-6). As a result they should be removed from the visible church for they have entered back through the gates of Hell. They should be bound.
At risk of making this blog too long, one other tough verse must be addressed:
To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Reading this verse by itself, or worse yet combined only with its prior verse, we can jump to the conclusion that the effect of our good would in some way bring about the "vengeance" of God (Romans 12:19). But when taken in the full context of the chapter (Romans 12) a different picture is formed, that of an altar, its consuming fire, and a living sacrifice.
For we are that sacrifice, the offense we forgive is the wood, and our enemy is the altar. Yes, indeed their conscience may burn as our small sacrifice brings about the sweet aroma of the Holy Place (Leviticus 16:12), but they may also repent, and receive the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what we should want for even our worst enemy.
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