“So, which comes first? Our forgiveness of others, which in turn convinces God to forgive us? Or is it God’s forgiveness, unmerited on our part, which then empowers us to forgive our own debtors?
We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Because forgiveness is the epitome and absolute power of God’s love, it is also true that we forgive because God first forgave us. According to the Lord’s Prayer, we persist in praying for God’s forgiveness only because we’ve already fully acknowledged our need of it and received God’s forgiveness as a free gift of grace.
Receiving God’s forgiveness entails accepting our own inability to have a relationship with God based on anything we can do or produce or earn.”
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
