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By Allen - 30 Mar 2017

In Reference to: 14 September 2014 - Repentance Precedes Forgiveness

Hi there.

Just passing through space here, and won’t be long.  Actually, I was teleported here by Bing, on a search for the phrase, “forgiveness precedes sin /or/ repentance” Romans 8:5

I only scanned down over your article about it. But it did take me a minute to realize that you have yours reversed. Backwards. I’m on the run, so can’t stay, won’t be back. But do have a comment. Could you have been taught wrong as I was?  Doctrines I learned well, but I was still thirsty. 10 – 15 years ago I began examining my own heart. I didn’t know Jesus, let alone the Father. //// The transport is cycling….

I had just read the quote below while at a stop we made right before arriving here

“Secondly, Christians should forgive for the sake of others. Contrary to the popular view, forgiveness precedes repentance. Typically the question asked is, “Do I have to forgive her if she doesn’t repent?” The better question is, “Can she repent if I don’t forgive?” Here our model and mandate is the cross. No one had repented when Christ cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Such love and grace disarm us. Our cold, hard hearts melt in the warmth of the Son. We repent. We love. But only “because he first loved us” (1 John 4:20). Repentance is a result of God’s forgiveness, not the cause of it. That is, God does not love us and forgive us because we repent; rather we repent because God loves us and forgives us. Paul writes, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” [emphasis mine] (Romans 5:8). Repentance preceded neither God’s love nor Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Yet the innocent, sinned-against Christ forgave. What the cross teaches us, then, is that reconciliation is the task of the victim. Tim Noel is correct. “The naiveté of that statement is the naiveté of the cross.” Of course, we are uncomfortable with the ethical implications of the theology of the cross. We who are wronged prefer that the villain make amends. Instead, the model of the cross portrays the injured party taking the initiative to restore the relationship. Wrongful injury becomes an opportunity to display the life-changing grace of God.”

Allen

Go on to comments: By Frank and Mary Hoffman - 30 Mar 2017
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