The Fallacies of Forgiveness
By Dr. Jerry Lloyd
Introduction
By way of introduction, forgiveness is not a fallacy, nor is the idea that God forgives us. However, there are a number of misconceptions about forgiveness attached fallaciously to salvation. When forgiveness of sin is preached rather than payment for sin, much confusion can take place. We have a tendency to refer to any number of things that happen close to the same time by the same words. Justification, redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, imputation, propitiation, sanctification, adoption, and forgiveness are almost all used interchangeably. However, they all have very different meanings. None are synonymous with eternal salvation, but since most happen at the same time as eternal salvation, they are often used in the place of salvation. Forgiveness is one of these terms.
Questions:
Is it doctrinally accurate to offer forgiveness when we are offering someone the free gift of salvation? Is it wise? Is it more easily understood, or could it be more confusing?
Some Scriptures to study are Matthew 6:14-15 where Christ teaches clearly that if you do not forgive others, you cannot receive forgiveness yourself. In Matthew 18:23-35 we read the story that Jesus teaches about a servant receiving forgiveness, then, when he does not forgive his fellow, his forgiveness is withdrawn. In I John 1:9 God tells us that forgiveness is conditional upon our confessing our sins, and James 5:15 stresses that to receive forgiveness, your confession must be to others—presumably to the person you have wronged. In Mark 2:5, Jesus pronounced forgiveness for the sick man upon seeing his faith. In Luke 23:34 Jesus asked for forgiveness to be extended to the ones that were crucifying Him. Obviously, there was no faith there.
Acts 13:38 speaks of forgiveness in the verse right before a verse that speaks of justification, and in
Romans 4:7 God quotes the Old Testament relating forgiveness just before mentioning sins being covered.
Still More Important Questions
Now, what all of these verses are talking about can be rationalized away, but the end result is, no matter what they are talking about, it becomes clear that one who attaches his salvation to forgiveness can become very confused. Do I have to forgive others in order to receive salvation? If I do not forgive others after I have received God’s forgiveness, can I lose my salvation since forgiveness can be reversed? Do I have to confess my sins to get saved? Do I have to continue to confess my sins in order to stay saved? Do I have to make a public confession of my sins to receive salvation? Do I even receive forgiveness when I trust Christ as my Savior at all?
Now I would wager that you know the answer to all of these questions, if I were a betting man. However, my point here is singular. Asking a person to pray for forgiveness when we want them to get saved can lead to real confusion later as they run across these verses.
English Illustration
Having been an English teacher for eighteen years in the past, I still remember some of my first lessons. I started teaching elementary English to junior age students. We had a chart that we were suppose to use that showed the possessive personal pronouns. We told the kids that they must memorize these pronouns. They are: My, Mine, Your, Yours, Its, Her, Hers, His, Our, Ours, Their, Theirs. That was all well and good except for the fact that “my,” “your,” “our,” and “their” are never used as pronouns. They are adjectives. So later, when I taught junior high and high school, I had to unteach what I had taught them in elementary school. It may be that way if we mix forgiveness of sin with Christ’s payment for sin.
The Same or Different? Which Is It?
Doesn’t Jesus speak of forgiveness when referring to salvation? It would appear that He spoke of forgiveness and salvation in back to back statements at the very least, but that does not mean they are the same thing. Are they the same? Do they happen at the same time, and do they have the same conditions?
What Is Forgiveness?
First of all, what is forgiveness? It’s basically an attitude. It indicates ceasing of hostilities or at least ceasing of a hostile attitude. It is probably more closely related to reconciliation than any of the other words we used in the ponderous list earlier. It does not indicate action, necessarily. A person can be forgiven, and still have to pay for crimes committed. You probably have seen news reports that show victims of crimes stating that they have forgiven the perpetrator. However, the judge still sentences the guilty person. Forgiveness does not pay the penalty.
Forgiveness by God started before we were saved. It was His forgiveness that made it possible to love the sinner and provide salvation for him. Without forgiveness, God could be thought of as one holding a grudge against us. However, He has no grudge. How do we know? We know, because He has forgiven us. It is conceivable that God could have paid for our sin by dying on the cross, because He is righteous, and that would be the right thing to do; but still hold a grudge against us. On the other hand, He could have forgiven us, because He loves us, and that is what you do for people you love; but because of His holy, righteous, just nature, not be able to allow us into His heaven. Bottom line, He died for us at least partly because He had forgiven us.
Forgiveness is for Fellowship
What is forgiveness for? The definitive chapter concerning this is I John chapter one. In this short chapter of ten verses God says that He is telling us these things so that we can have fellowship. So forgiveness is necessary for fellowship. Let us see if we can put some of these things together. God wants to have fellowship with all of mankind.
Purpose of Creation
I heard one denominational leader say that fellowship was the very reason that God created us. He said that God created us for the purpose of having fellowship with Him. No. While God desires to have fellowship with us, to be honest, God didn’t create us for that. He created us to please and glorify Him according to Isaiah 43:7 and Revelation 4:11. To be sure, God wants to have fellowship with us, and He has definitely created us with that capacity. Therefore, He provided a means to make fellowship possible. However, that wasn’t why He created man.
God forgave man, and, because mankind has been forgiven (like the men who nailed Him to the cross,) He proceeded to do what it would take to have fellowship with us. Originally, this involved His dying and paying for all of our sins.
The First Step Toward Fellowship with God
The first thing that must take place for us to have fellowship with God is we must trust Christ as our Savior. When we accept His death payment for our sin, which was made possible because He had forgiven us, we are reconciled to God. That means we are brought back into a right relationship with Him. Forgiveness already took place even before we were born. That is what made it palatable to God to offer us the free gift of eternal life.
The Second Step Is the First Step for the Believer
After we are saved, we still may not have fellowship with God. As a believer, the first step in having fellowship with God is confession of sins. Notice that confession of sins is for fellowship, and it is for the believer. The confession of sin should be to God, and to the other person or persons sinned against. Your fellowship with God is conditional upon your fellowship with others. That is why you must confess your sin and forgive others when they confess their sin to you when they have wronged you.
Let me say that for your spiritual health, you should forgive others when they wrong you, before they confess to you, mostly because they probably never will. Do not let bitterness or lack of forgiveness stand between you and your fellowship with God. Your happiness, peace of mind, and love in this life are dependent upon your fellowship with God.
The Final Step To Fellowship with God
After you are saved, and then after you have confessed your sins and forgiven others for the things they have done to you, there is still one more thing that you must do to have fellowship with God. You must obey Him. Lack of obedience is sin, and sin is what breaks our fellowship with God as well as with others. Fellowship with God is how we get the fruit of the spirit which includes love, joy, and peace. So you see, fellowship with God is very desirable. You cannot have the fruit of the spirit without it.
When we fall out of fellowship with others, the last part of this process starts all over again. When we sin, that breaks our fellowship with God and the person we sinned against. So, we need to get right with God again. We do not have to get saved again, but we must renew our fellowship with Him. So we must confess our sin to God and the person we have wronged. Then you need to obey God. You can tell you need to confess, because the first thing that happens to a person who steps out of fellowship is he no longer appears to be happy. He seems troubled. He starts missing church services, and, eventually, God will chasten him. Of course, he can avoid chastening by getting back in fellowship with God and the person the has wronged.
A Few Points in Review.
1-The lost person who has not trusted Christ as Savior has already had his sins forgiven initially.
2-Confession of sin or of Christ are not part of getting saved, but part of continued fellowship after a person is saved.
3-Confession of sin is a lifetime thing (as is confession of Christ).
4-A saved person may not be forgiven. He must confess his sins and obey God.
A Few More Points
1-The reason I bring this up, is many people attach forgiveness of sins to salvation. This initial forgiveness of sins was, actually, extended prior to salvation. The idea was that God wanted to have fellowship with mankind, but sin broke that possibility, because sin separates man from the holy, perfect God. God forgave that sin and took our sin upon Himself so that He could pay for it Himself. He did this because He loves us and had forgiven us even before we were saved. You don’t have to ask for this forgiveness, because it has already taken place. The issue in salvation is not whether God forgives us or even if we accept His forgiveness, but the payment for our sin and our acceptance of that. There, obviously, is forgiveness very closely related to salvation, but to equate the two is to bring about confusion, because there is the need for continued forgiveness which is not unilateral like the initial forgiveness, but is conditional upon confession of sin, forsaking sin, and making restitution for sin.
2-This brings us to the second point in review. While confession of sin is required to receive forgiveness after we are saved, to attach confession of sins to salvation is to attach fellowship to salvation. That makes salvation depend on works.
3-Some attach confession of Christ to salvation. They sometimes point to Romans 10:9. However, Romans quits talking about personal salvation at the end of chapter five, and begins talking about the Christian life in chapters six, seven, and eight. Chapters nine, ten, and eleven are talking about Christian responsibility. There are a host of errors that will be taught if this is not understood. “Thou” is plural in these verses, as is their translation “you.” We might translate the word “thou” as “you all” or “your people.” This might be poor grammar, but it might give you an inkling about what it is talking about. God is telling us here that we should spend a lifetime of confession to salvation. Confession is definitely a work not required for our own salvation. Confession is for other people to understand salvation, not a condition for us to get saved. We can see that demonstrated clearly in John 12:42, “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they be put out of the synagogue:”
Here we see that there were believers who did not confess Jesus in any way. Yet, there is absolutely no distinction made between their faith and the faith of others who did stand up for the Lord. There faith was not defective; their actions (works) were. The word “believe” is the same in this verse as in the other almost one hundred times in the book of John that believing is required for salvation. So this same belief that secures everlasting life in John 3:16 is the same belief that does not produce confession in John 12:42.
Some might say, “Of course, they are different. One type of faith produces fruit, and the other type of faith does not.”
No. Faith secures eternally life, and works produce confession and, consequently, fruit. But isn’t confession for salvation? Not for ours, but for others’ salvation. We confess so that others might believe.
What About Saving Faith?
Remember, there is no such thing in the Bible as saving or unsaving faith. There is only faith. Sometimes it may be strong or weak, but there is never any question as to whether it will save. The reason for that is faith is a gift from God. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given to every man the measure of faith. All faith comes from God, and every man has been given faith, so all men have the faith necessary to save them. If the faith should be defective, that’s God’s fault, and God doesn’t have any faults. The problem is the object of their faith. What are they trusting to get to heaven? Are they trusting Jesus to get them to heaven, or are they trusting there own efforts or intentions?
4-Can a saved person not be forgiven? Well, you might say that He is, because God forgave mankind corporately when He chose to provide salvation for mankind. However, personally, he may still not be forgiven.
Forgiveness or Payment?
Some time ago it used to be fashionable when beginning to witness to someone to begin with the words. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” That is where initial forgiveness comes in. You could say, “God loves you and forgave for everything that you have ever done wrong.” Then you could go on to explain that forgiveness was not what was needed to get to heaven. Payment for sin is what was required.
After a person has received salvation, he can still wrong God. God forgave us (mankind) before we were even born, but after we have been born we have sinned against God. That sin has been completely paid for. It does not in any way affect our salvation. However, it does affect out relationship or fellowship with God. Consequently, we need to receive daily forgiveness. When we don’t maintain our fellowship with others and with God by confession and obedience, then we continue in our Christian life unforgiven. We are still saved, and our sins are still all paid for, but we are unforgiven.
In Conclusion:
God created mankind with the capacity to have fellowship with Him.
Man sinned and broke that fellowship.
Because of the adversary relationship that man caused between God and himself, there was and is nothing that man can do to have fellowship with God.
The only way to have fellowship with God is to be sinless, and nobody is.
So, rather than God being mad at us, He forgave us. Then He did what was required to take care of our sin. He removed our sin from us, and placed them upon Himself. Then He died, thus paying for and destroying our sin.
The only thing that we have to do to receive this payment is trust Jesus’ death on the cross as the complete provision for our sins.
Then we can be absolutely certain of going to heaven.
When we get to this point, we are certain of going to heaven, and have the capacity to have fellowship with God.
However, daily sin still comes between us and God. It does not affect our salvation, but it does break our fellowship with God. So we must constantly confess our sin to receive His forgiveness and break down that barrier of sin between us and God. If we sin against another, we must make that right with them so that we do not have a sinful barrier between us and God.
After sin is no longer hindering our relationship with God, we must be obedient to Him. Then we have fellowship with God.
Purpose of Forgiveness
What does all of this have to do with forgiveness? The very purpose of forgiveness is to provide a way for us to have fellowship with God.
Pastor Jerry