W K Tweedie
Ephesians 4:31,32. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
It should be noticed, with special care, that the forgiveness which God extends to sinners is held out as the model for us to imitate. If the holy Jehovah has forgiven us countless talents, much more are we to forgive a
1Taken with editing from The Christian’s Daily Companion.
fellow mortal a penny. If he has blotted out offences that were like crimson and scarlet, how prompt should we be in blotting from our hearts every trace of offences against us! The plan of redemption is a system of forgiveness, and the man that is unforgiving sins thereby against the whole gospel – he sets himself in opposition to the mind of God, who is revealed to men as the God of pardon, the God that delights in mercy. The Christian should therefore have no enemy but one: namely, sin. Towards every other enemy he should steadfastly present the aspect of kindness. Never are we more like Him who prayed amid His dying agonies, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” than when we are enabled by the grace of God to pray for and pity even the men that traduce us and would persecute us.
But further, the religion of the gospel is so exquisite in its structure that, if we are not forgiving, we cannot be forgiven. “If [we] forgive not men their trespasses, neither will [our] Father forgive [our] trespasses.” As restitution is an essential part of repentance, when we have inflicted injury, so forgiveness is an invariable result of that faith which worketh by love, and which connects us with Him through whom alone pardon can be obtained. For us therefore to pray to God to pardon us while we refuse to pardon another, or while malice rankles in our hearts, is to mock God by asking for what He assures us He will not give.
It is just as certain that a revengeful man will not obtain pardon from God as it is certain that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. The man who can harbour revenge cannot be a believer in Him who loved His enemies – who died for them – and taught His followers to bless them who curse us, and pray for them who despitefully use us; and if there is no belief in Christ, there can be no pardon.
Now let us apply all this in the work of self-scrutiny. See that man toiling at that shapeless block of stone. He intends it to be a statue and has just begun his labour. It bears no marks which could tell the inexperienced eye what purpose it is to serve. But slowly, under the sculptor’s hand, it emerges into beauty, and now it stands as an exquisite monument of his skill. That is an emblem of the New-Creator’s power over the heart and soul of man. It is at first rough and shapeless, but slowly it grows in “the beauty of holiness”. The Word is the implement that the Spirit uses for that purpose; it is at once the model and the means of producing conformity to itself.
Has it been so with my soul? Have I been brought by the blessing of God’s Spirit from a state of rough nature, where all was morally deformed, into a state of grace, where the soul ripens for glory? That is, am I growing in conformity to Jesus, who prayed for His crucifiers – who loved His people to the death, who suffered for them, leaving them an example that they should
walk in His footsteps? If we have gospel grounds for thinking that this is the case, then “bless the Lord, O [our souls], and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all [our] iniquities: who healeth all [our] diseases: who redeemeth [our] life from destruction: who crowneth [us] with loving-kindness and tender mercies” (Ps 103:2-4).