Forgiveness

I think a number of people have a fundamental confusion about the meaning of forgiveness. God's forgiveness is never an act of leniency. God can righteously forgive only when the full satisfaction of His holiness has been met. The root of the meaning of the word forgive, in the Bible, is remission. It represents the divine act of separating the sin from the sinner. Human forgiveness is merely a lifting of the penalty: divine forgiveness is exercised only when the penalty, according to the terms of His infinite righteousness, has first been executed on the sinner, or his substitute. "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). All divine forgiveness whether toward the unsaved or the saved is now based on the shed blood of Christ. When we were saved He forgave us "all trespasses." (Colossians 2:13). This is judicial forgiveness and means the removal of the grounds of condemnation forever. This is God's "Living water" for you and for me.