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AGGRESSIVE FORGIVENESS

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21

Aggressive forgiveness? At first that phase sounds like it has the makings of an oxymoron, but when given some time to marinate, the phrase begins to unpack deep meaning.

Grace = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

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The expense Jesus was willing to pay was His extreme suffering and unwarranted death in our place. Christ Jesus became one of His own creation in the incarnation so that He could save us by doing what we could not do for ourselves. The perfect, unblemished, sinless sacrificial lamb came into the world for miserable sinners such as us. This is grace. This is God’s unwavering desire to save humankind from the depths of hell. This is aggressive forgiveness!

What does this mean? Simply that God has forgiven all our sin through the sacrifice of Christ. But there is more. We are called to practice this same aggressive forgiveness, grace, in our lives. We are to forgive as we have been forgiven. We are to share this grace with one another as we strive to live the Gospel, a life with Christ at the center. A life of love and forgiveness. A life renewed by Christ Himself. God is putting everything back together again through Jesus. New life is found in Christ.

“Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

Peace

Deacon Hurst