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Forgiveness 6

             And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Hebrews 10:18)

 

            Today’s verse brings us full circle. We began with the notion that forgiveness requires sacrifice. Now, the author of Hebrews says that forgiveness doesn’t require sacrifice.  Which is it? Is Scripture being contradictory?  I don’t believe so. First, there is the fact that the sacrificial system described in Leviticus was part of the Old Covenant.  Christ fulfilled the law through His death and resurrection, and we live under the New Covenant. The formal requirement of sacrifice has been set aside.

            Secondly, and more importantly, the passage in Leviticus requiring sacrifice approached the topic of forgiveness from the present. Those who seek forgiveness must sacrifice. The act of forgiveness requires sacrifice from the one who forgives. Today’s verse deals with forgiveness in the past tense. The people involved have made their sacrifices. Forgiveness has been granted. And for those to whom forgiveness has been granted, sacrifice for that sin is no longer necessary.

            Sometimes we understand this. We ask why someone who has made a “mistake” should be required to pay for it for the rest of their lives. With the next breath, we may pronounce that someone should pay for their inappropriate behavior for the rest of their lives – there is no sacrifice big enough to earn forgiveness for that sin.  The moment another sin is uncovered, the old sin is trotted out. Even without a new sin, the old is always there, always standing between the sinner and the victim.

            Today’s verse tells us that true forgiveness means no revisiting what has been forgiven. There may be consequences of sin. If you kill someone and ask for and receive forgiveness from the family, that doesn’t mean you don’t go to jail. Being forgiven may not result in your being granted full trust or access to the person you sinned against. But it does mean that the person harmed by the sin no longer seeks to harm the sinner.

 

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