We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

The difference in result between forgiveness that responds to repentance and forgiveness independent of the repentance of the offending party is, of course, that the former pattern issues in reconciliation while the latter does not. But in both cases what is presupposed is that the believer forgives the offender. Transparently, reconciliation is a good thing if it can be achieved, but the goal of reconciliation should not become the cloak for nursing bitterness because it cannot be achieved.

D.A. Carson

Our response to those in the world is not to envy or admire them in their rejection of God. It’s not even to condemn them by wagging a Pharisaic finger of self-righteousness. Jesus said He did not come the first time to condemn the world. He came that the world might be saved through Him. Likewise, our job is to have compassion on the world – no different than the way Jesus did when they tortured and mocked Him on the cross – to point people to forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Judgment is His job and as we just witnessed in Revelation 14, that’s exactly what He will do when He comes a second time.

Randy Smith