The Madness of Unforgiveness: Remember God's Amazing Grace

by David Chadwick

Today, let's walk through another good exercise that should help us understand more about forgiveness. Read Romans 5.

Whenever I read the first part of Romans 5, I am immediately struck by the insurmountable grace of God. It truly is amazing. There is nothing like it in the entire world. We have peace and access to a hope in God that we never would have otherwise experienced (Romans 5:1-2). While we were still walking in sin and bound by folly, Jesus chose to die for us (Romans 5:8).

Look at some of the words used by Paul to describe us in our pre-Christ condition in Titus 3:3. Foolish. Disobedient. Easily led astray. So unlike God in every way. Now look at how Romans 5 describes us before Christ. Ungodly. Sinners. Enemies. Rebels. Without Jesus, we are truly weak!

We were ungodly. John 8:44 says this of humanity before meeting Jesus, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." Our innate desires before Jesus are to quest after Satan's ways, not God's.

We were sinners. Do you know what the word sinner means? It means "missing the mark." When an archer would shoot an arrow at a target and miss it completely, the onlookers would call, "Sin!" God did have an original intent for all of us, a desired bullseye he wanted all of humanity to have. But we are the ones who have completely missed the mark. Way off course!

We were enemies. Think on this one for a while. A synonym for enemies is rebels. We have led a revolt against the one who gave us everything. God gave us our lives. He gave us provision, possessions, fun, laughter, and vision for productive and fulfilling lives. But we rejected his rule. We wanted life on our own terms.

But God. While we were ungodly, sinners, rebels, and enemies of God, he STILL pursued us. He STILL left heaven to come to us and die on the cross. He pursued us in the ultimate rescue mission that has marked mankind forever!

God didn't wait for perfection before he expressed grace. Think about this. Now think about the person who has hurt you. Can you give to others the same kind of grace that you've received from Jesus? That's the essence of Romans 5.

That's the heart of Jesus's gospel of grace.