Forgiving All the
Unforgiv By Rev. George F. Borghardt III
ll sins are forgiven by the death of Christ of the cross. The Gospel is in the all. Not a sin is left out. Not a sin is left unanswered. Not a single one. Every last sin is forgiven, done, and answered for in Jesus Christ.
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All means not just your sins or my sins; that’s everyone’s sins. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. “All are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24). Freely given—that’s gift. Freely received—that’s faith. He does it. He does the redeeming. To redeem means to buy back. The one who paid the price for your sins is Christ. That’s what Jesus did with His innocent suffering and death. Christ did the paying for the all of the Gospel. He didn’t redeem you with gold or silver, but “with His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.” He did it for you. He did it for free. Not one sin has been left unredeemed, and not one person has not been died for. But there’s that person with that horrible thing he did to you. You know the one. You know the thing, that awful, unimaginable thing. It caught you completely by surprise, took the wind right out of your Christianity. It felt like a punch in the stomach. Life will never be the same. You’ll never get over it. You can’t even look at her. Can you ever forget? Can you ever forgive? Should you? The all of the Lord’s forgiveness includes that sin too, doesn’t it? Yes. Christ answered for all sins on the cross, even that one, especially that one. He died for the ungodly. That’s you. All also includes the ungodly person who sinned against you too. All. That really is all. Christ has forgiven you all your small and your terrible sins. He forgave the time you did youknow-what at you-know-where. He forgave that time you got yourself into that thing you shouldn’t have gotten into. And He forgave the time you said those hurtful words you really shouldn’t have said. You know what I’m talking about. You know what He forgave, don’t you? So what happens when you, who have been forgiven all your terrible sins, don’t forgive the sins of others? Can you expect to be forgiven?
No, absolutely not. Without the Lord’s forgiveness, there is no heaven, no life, no paradise. There is only death, hell, and torment for you. That’s the Law, and there’s no dodging it. If you say that all sins are forgiven by the cross, all except that one particular sin that person did against you, you reject the Gospel. You deny the all of the Lord’s forgiveness and set yourself outside the faith of Christ. Is it really worth going to hell to not forgive that person? Surely not, especially when the all of the Gospel covers both of you. You are forgiven on account of Christ. And that person is forgiven on account of Christ too. Don’t let that person’s not being sorry determine whether you forgive or not. Don’t think your lack of forgiveness is justified because that person isn’t sorry enough for your satisfaction. Christ didn’t wait for you to be sorry to forgive you. He died for sinners who weren’t the least bit sorry. He died for those who killed Him. He died for all your sins, and He died for all that person’s sins too. You know full well that you don’t get forgiveness simply because you forgive. No, Christ forgives you, and so you forgive. Forgiving others isn’t a work that earns you God’s forgiveness. That’s backwards. He takes His forgiveness and splashes you, and that forgiveness overflows onto those around you, even to that person who did that thing that hurt you so much. Still can’t bring yourself to forgive them? The pain is certainly real. The hurt really does run deep. If you force yourself to forgive, you might work up some forgiveness for a bit. But then that person will say or do something or you’ll hear that he said or did something, and it will all come rushing back. You’ll be back to where you started with all the pain, all the rage, all the unforgiveness. So, what then? You get your life filled again with His forgiveness. You are forgiven. You are enlivened to forgive others at the same place where you yourself have
